Bubby's Pizza Dough

For those that don't know me personally, let me explain a little about my 10 year old son. With his Autism comes MAJOR food issues. He is terrified of most food and has a very short list of things allowed into his mouth at any time. For some time now, his thing has been pizza....at first, it had to be Pizza Hut hand-tossed only....anything that deviated would not be touched. Well, since I have been out of the working world for a little over a year now....that was just too much $$. I went through a million pizza recipes before I stumbled upon a pizza forum that was filled with die hard pizza gurus. They walked me through several things that have helped me so much. I know that the best doughs are the ones that are refrigerated for a couple of days to ferment....that weighing the ingredients is helpful....that bread flour makes a much much better dough. Eventually, it got to the point that I couldn't always make dough 2 days in advance...something would come up... all too often. I finally settled with a same day dough....which was still worlds better than the recipes I started with.

I will share with you the recipe that I have ingrained into my head....I make this dough 5-6 days a week. Since I do weigh my ingredients (flour and water) I had to measure things out to convert it for a recipe. That being said, you will have to measure the same way I do....it's not hard ;) First, and most importantly, never scoop the flour out of the bag (or container) with the measuring cup. This packs the flour and you end up with a lot more than you should. Too much flour makes a very dense non-airy pizza. Instead, use a spoon to put flour into the measuring cup, then with the back of a butter knife (I sometimes use an index card) level off the top of the cup.

This recipe uses instant dry yeast (sometimes labeled as "Yeast for Bread Machines")....this makes it a very easy yeast dough in my opinion. Mostly, because instant dry yeast (IDY) only requires one rise....and it does not need to be proofed in water first. If you wanted to use active dry yeast (ADY) you would use 1 1/4 tsp and let it rise, punch down, then let it rise again.

I usually do this with my mixer, but I have done it by hand when the baby was sleeping, so it can be done. I will give directions assuming a mixer is being used.






Ingredients:

2 3/4 Cups + 2 Tbsp Bread Flour
1 scant (slightly less than) cup of warm water (not hot)
1 Tbsp Sugar or Honey (or a combo of both)
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Instant  dry yeast (or yeast for bread machines)
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Put the water, oil, sugar &/or honey and salt into the mixing bowl. Stir until dissolved

2. In a different bowl mix the flour and yeast together



3. Pour all the flour/yeast into the mixing bowl with the water mix.



4. Using the dough hook, mix the dough on a lower speed for about 5 minutes.



5. Once the dough is removed from the mixer, I usually knead it by hand for a minute or two, then roll the dough into a ball. Lightly coat the bowl and the dough ball with oil. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for 1.5-2 hours. (may take longer if it is really cold in your kitchen)



6. Lightly flour a clean surface and remove the dough from the bowl. Sprinkle some flour (not a lot) on the top and smooth it around. Flip the dough over and do the same for the other side. Preheat your oven to 475-500 degrees F...yes, that is hot.



7. Push the dough out using your hands. Do not use a rolling pin, because it will flatten all those nice bubbles that will cook up into airy pockets in your dough....and that's just wrong.



8. Place the dough on a pizza screen or a pan (the pan in the picture is one of those air crisp pans with the holes in the bottom like this) If you look closely at the dough, you can see several bubbles....these are future air pockets, aren't they lovely??



9. Just a tip from trial and error....that cheese at the grocery store, you know the fine grated "Pizza Blend"...is no bueno on pizza. For one, the cheese is so thin that it will burn before the crust is cooked...and well, it tastes odd too. For a simple pizza, just grab the bag of larger shredded mozzarella. Then add your toppings! (since this is Bubby's pizza, it is, and always will be, pepperoni. Don't try to cover all the sauce in cheese.....I promise, it will melt.



10. Place the pizza into your 475-500 degree oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Start watching it after 8...make sure the cheese is good and bubbly and that the crust is browning.



All that's left to do now is dig in! Let me know if you give this a try!

Here is the simple sauce I make, but you can use your favorite!

1-6 oz can tomato paste
6 oz of water (just use the can)
1/2-3/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt (totally optional....omit for sure if your tomato paste already has salt)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sugar

Just mix it all together and it's ready to go...no need to heat it up since it is going into the oven ;)