Thursday, June 14, 2012

Homemade Pizza

By now, you should know that I'm practically in love with Elise Blaha. She does every crafty thing you can think of; scrapbook, makes little paper books, embellishes in a unique way, bakes, cooks, sews, paints, builds.. Yeah, it keeps going. Anyways, she recently started a goal to make 40 pizzas, all with different toppings, just to try something new. She uses a whole wheat crust, and it sparked my interest. I've only tried a handful of wheat pizza crusts, and they've all been from when I worked at Pizza Pie Cafe. So I went out and bought some high altitude wheat flour, some pizza yeast from Walmart (that you don't even need to wait for rising time! Mix it all together and throw it in the oven!) and I decided to get started.

Now, just a pre-note, I've always hated homemade pizza. I think it just tastes awful and the texture is weird and.. there's really nothing good about it. 

With that said, here's what the pizza looked like: (as I was in the process of eating it)

AND IT WAS FREAKING DELICIOUS!! Seriously, the best pizza I've ever had. Even better than Pizza Hut.. which is saying a lot because that's the one pizza that I actually love. I guess I've found my knack of what I cook best? Or maybe it was just a fluke and I accidentally scored?? Either way, it was amazing. Cody thought so too, and he also dislikes homemade pizza.

Side note.. I had the dough all made, the toppings ready to put on, and realized I forgot to buy cheese! Duh! Who forgets cheese when making PIZZA!?? So I had to run to Costco super fast a buy a thing of cheese (that was freaking huge.. So it looks like I'll be making a lot of pizza in the next little bit)

Toppings:

  • Great Value Classic Alfredo
  • Sliced ham from Costco (for sandwiches) which I cut up into tiny pieces
  • Pineapple chunks that I cut up into small pieces
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • An herb from my spice rack called Pizza Seasoning (fancy, huh?)

[^ I made up this pizza at PPC, and if you haven't tried it, it's seriously so good! Alfredo instead of classic red sauce, and then a normal Hawaiian pizza.. MMM:]

Dough: *If you buy those pizza yeast packets, they have a recipe on the back that I followed. But I'll give it to you just in case.

  • 1-3/4 to 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I started out with one cup of wheat flour, then added small amounts that probably added up to 3/4 cup of white flour)
  • 1 packet of pizza yeast
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup very warm water (120* to 130* F)
  • 3 tablespoons oil
Preheat oven to 425*F
COMBINE 1 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in large bowl. Add water and oil. Mix until well blended; about 1 minute. (I don't have a Kitchen Aid or any type of dough making machine, so for this part I just used a good ol' wooden spoon)
ADD gradually, enough remaining flour until soft dough ball is formed. Dough will be slightly sticky. (And for this part, I mixed it with my hands)
KNEAD on a floured surface adding additional flour if needed, until smoothe and elastic; about 4 minutes. With floured hands, pat dough out to fill greased pizza pan , OR roll to a 12-inch circle and transfer to greased pizza pan (which is the option I did, because I have a fancy pan that can be used for pizzas!)
TOP as desired with pizza sauce, toppings and cheese.
BAKE on bottom oven rack for 12-15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned. (Mine took about 13 minutes to reach perfection, but obviously everyone's oven is different)

And when it comes out, wait a little bit so you don't burn your mouth off, but then eat this delicious pizza as soon as you can and enjoy every bite!

*But just remember that if you have normal yeast, you might have to alter this recipe a little bit. Or look at Elise's recipe, because she uses normal yeast that you have to wait for it to raise.*

5 comments:

  1. Looks so yummy!! I'll have to try it. btw, Cody you should've told me you didn't like homemade! ;)

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    1. Sorry, I should have specified. Yours is the only kind he likes, and he really really likes it!! And no, I'm not just saying that! He's told me that before.. He's had many other kinds though, and he'll eat them, but he's not the biggest fan of them. Goodness, now I feel really bad. I'm sorry Trinamom!!

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    2. NO WORRIES SHAY!! I was just ribbing Cody a bit! I don't get the opening very often, and it was a perfect opening. ;) I should've made my wink bigger ha ha! I was serious about the pizza looking yummy though, and I've never thought about using alfredo sauce instead! I just may convert. :)

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  2. yumm!!! We actually LOVE homemade pizza. I make it pretty often. lol I bought a big thing of pepperoni's from coscto and keep it frozen as well as the big bag of cheese from there as well. what I did was divide the cheese in to 2 big ziplop bags (since it's SO big) and just keep it frozen and sue it as needed! that way it stays better for longer. i'll have to try this recipe!

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  3. Yumm!!! I think that looks amazing!!! Thanks for posting the recipe too!!!

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