I always am tickled when my mistakes turn out to be blessings. Yesterday afternoon, I made pizza for my husband and me. We eat homemade pizza a lot here at my house, I’ve gotten to the point that I hate carry out, only homemade will do. The wonderful thing is that it is so easy and tastes so much better!
Yesterday, I made the mistake of leaving out the oil in my recipe. I was very upset when I figured this out, because I was hungry, and I get slightly cranky when I’m hungry and it seems that food is not in my immediate future. I was so hungry, that I decided to push through and continue on making it anyway. I’m so happy that I did!
My normal recipe is wonderful, crispy, and very flat. I love all of this, but sometimes you just want to sink your teeth into a nice deep dish pizza. I have tried just not rolling out the dough so much, but it still isn’t the same, and now I know why. Deep dish is much more bready and therefore needs a lot less oil. Isn’t it fun to discover something new?
Becca’s Pizza Dough Recipe:
- 3/4 c lukewarm water
- 2 1/4 tsp yeast
- 1 c all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur’s, which has more gluten than normal all-purpose flour)
- 1 c white whole wheat flour (Also King Arthur’s, it is awesome!)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1-2 tsp herbs (I sometimes make basil oregano or herbs de provence dough, and it is quite tasty, but it is truly optional based on your mood)
- 3 tbs olive oil for thin crust or 1 tsp for deep dish, plus a bit more to cover the dough in
- Cornmeal
Directions:
- I use my bread maker to make the dough, but your hands, or a mixer or food processor with a dough attachment will work fine.
- Let the yeast dissolve in the water for a couple minutes while you are putting together the other ingredients in what ever contraption you choose to use.
- Add the yeast water to the other ingredients, and start mixing immediately. If you wait, the yeast will grow too quickly because of prolonged direct contact with the sugar.
- Use the dough setting on the bread maker. For good instructions about hand, food processor, or mixer kneading, go here.
- Cover the dough with a tsp of olive oil to keep from drying out, make sure that the whole ball is covered, spreading the oil with your hands.
- Cover and let rise for 45 min-1 hour, it will rise faster when it is warm than if it is cold.
- 30 minutes before the dough is done, preheat oven to 400 F. Put in the pizza stone at the same time, if you are using one, so that it is nice and hot.
- Shape the dough, either using your hands for a more rustic look, or with a rolling pin.
- Sprinkle a bit of cornmeal onto pizza stone or baking sheet to keep from sticking.
- Put dough on the stone and top to taste.
- Cook for 20-25 minutes.
- Enjoy!
If you enjoy this posting, try these:
[…] Old-Fashioned Gal has a recipe for fantastic deep dish pizza dough. It could save you a fair amount if you have a hankering to order […]
Here’s a pizza idea- I saw the cook at Pizza Hut make the cheese stuffed crust one day. He just took a long mozzerella cheese stick and laid it around the edgeof the pan in a half circle and pulled the dough up and over it and pressed down on the seam. I copied him by using regular cheese sticks but I tore them in half the long way so they bend It takes 4 or 5 depending how big the pan is. Bake as you normally do.
Kat,
That’s a great idea. When I was a kid, I used to love those stuffed crust pizzas. I should try that out.
King Arthur Flour is the absolute BEST!! You dough looks super delicious! And yeah, deep dish is necessary sometimes…it’s so comforting 🙂