Friday is Homemade Pizza Night

Making homemade pizza is fun and easy, and it can be budget-friendly!

Why not try making homemade pizza for supper this Friday night? My husband and I have been for the past couple of months and thoroughly enjoy it!

Some benefits to making homemade pizza are:

– Learning how to make pizza dough – It’s easier than you think!
– Discovering new flavor combinations – Be creative!
– Becoming closer as a family – Enjoy it!

But why stop there? Turn the night into a Family Fun Night with Pizza and a Movie or a Game or Both!

From Dough to Done!

Thin and Crispy Pizza Dough

Originally, we used a pizza dough recipe which came with our Kitchen Aid mixer. It was easy to make, but it was also very bready and just never had enough flavor – even when I added extra ingredients. So, I decided to look for some more options.

Some recipes used ingredients I do not keep on hand or did not want to purchase, but this recipe was perfect. I keep all of these ingredients on hand (except for the kosher salt which I always substitute with table salt), and none of them are expensive. The best part about this recipe is that the crust is DELICIOUS!

I did make one adjustment per the advice of the reviews. The advice was to lower the salt as it was too much, even if you were to use the kosher salt mentioned in the original recipe. I lowered the salt to 1 tsp of table salt, and it’s the perfect amount for us.

By cooking this particular pizza dough on a hot pizza stone in a very, very hot oven, the result is very much like a pizzeria pizza. Just make sure to use enough flour under your pizza so that it slides off of whatever you use to transfer it to the stone.

Leftover Tip: If you have access to an oven at leftover time, reheat the pizza in a 375 degree F oven for 5-7 minutes. By reheating in the oven, the pizza is just like it was freshly made but slightly more melded in flavor. It’s still good reheated in the microwave.

Original Recipe

Serves: 2 Medium Pizzas or 3 Small Pizzas
Prep Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 1/2-3 hours

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus oil for the bowl (can use spray oil for the bowl)
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Instructions

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water; stir gently to dissolve.
Let the mixture stand until the yeast comes alive and starts to foam, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Turn the mixer on low and add the salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Add the flour, a little at a time, mixing at the lowest speed until all the flour has been incorporated.
When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium; stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook.
Get a feel for the dough by squeezing a small amount together: if it’s crumbly, add more water; if it’s sticky, add more flour – 1 tablespoon at a time.
Mix until the dough gathers into a ball, this should take about 5 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a few times; kneading until it’s smooth and elastic.
Form the dough into a round and place in a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over to coat.
Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot (i.e. over a gas pilot light) until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
This is a good time to stick a pizza stone in the oven and preheat it to 500 degrees F.
Once the dough is domed and spongy, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter.
Roll and stretch the dough into a cylinder and divide into 2-3 equal pieces.
Cover and let rest for 10 minutes so it will be easier to roll out.
Roll or pat out a piece of dough into a 12 inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick.
Dust a pizza paddle with flour and slide it under the pizza dough.
Brush the crust with a thin layer of olive oil, and top as desired.
Slide the pizza onto the hot stone in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and crisp.
Repeat with the remaining dough. Instead of another pizza, we like to make cheesy garlic breadsticks (see below), a loaf of bread with Italian spices and Parmesan cheese on top, chocolate filled rolls, cinnamon rolls, or anything else we can think of.

Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks

On one pizza night, we only had enough sauce for one pizza. We decided to go ahead and make all the dough and use half to make some cheesy, garlicky breadsticks. It was a success!

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 pizza dough from above recipe
Olive oil for brushing
A dusting of garlic powder (maybe 1/2 tbsp)
A sprinkling of dried oregano (maybe 1 tsp)
A light shower of dried basil (maybe 1/2 tsp)
A bit of Parmesan cheese (maybe 2 tbsp)
3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. (If you are making a pizza too, this step will already be done.)
Pat the dough out to 1-inch thickness.
Brush the dough with olive oil.
Sprinkle with garlic power, oregano, basil, and Parmesan cheese.
Top with the mozzarella.
Bake for 10 minutes or until brown and bubbly.
Let sit for a couple of minutes before cutting.