Friday, May 25, 2007

Friday Pizza Nights


After a long week, the last thing on my mind for Friday night is cooking. Right after Ben and I got married and not long after we moved in together to our new townhouse we instituted Friday Pizza Nights. We enjoy nothing more than a hot slice of pizza, a cold beer or a glass of wine and watching a movie. Ben has always been a huge pizza fan and since working at Domino's he thinks he's an expert. His dream one day is to open a pizza parlor/brewery, but for now, our kitchen on Friday nights will have to do.

We've recently taken our pizza nights one step further and started making our own dough. Yes, we were a little scared of using yeast, but it's super easy. One batch of dough makes enough for 2-12 inch pizzas. When making the dough we immediately split the dough and put half in the freezer for next week. We just thaw the dough and let it rise. We've experimented with different toppings, cheeses, sauces, but our favorites are ham and pineapple, classic pepperoni and sausage and bbq chicken. We've also tweaked the original dough recipe from Cooking Light to add a little more flavor. We hope you'll start your own Friday Pizza Nights and have fun experimenting with your own favorite toppings with your family.

Whole Wheat Herb Pizza Dough

1 package dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour, divided
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons pizza seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking Spray

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, oil, garlic powder, pizza seasonings and salt to yeast mixture, stirring until well-blended. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Divide dough in half; roll each half into a 12-inch circle on a floured surface. Top and bake according to recipe directions.

Note: You can prepare this in a stand mixer using the dough hook. Add all the ingredients and let the hook knead the dough for approximately 5 minutes. Also, this dough may be frozen. Follow directions for kneading dough, and shape dough into 2 balls. Coat balls with cooking spray and place into a ziptop plastic freezer bag. Thaw overnight in a refrigerator. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85'), free from drafts' 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If Indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Shape as instructed.

By trial and error we've found for the crust we like (slightly crispy) we preheat heat the oven to 400F, bake the pizza dough for 5 minutes, then add our sauce, cheese, toppings and more cheese. Then, bake approximately 15 more minutes until the cheese and melted and just ever so slightly browned.

No comments: