Just to give you a little background on myself since i don't know most of you. Emily and I went to High School together and are friends on Facebook (isn't it the best way to keep up with people). After college I moved to New York City for job in Advertising (I have been in NYC for almost 6 years now), met my now husband, got married, we recently just bought our first apartment in Brooklyn and have a 2 year old French Bulldog puppy named Sophie. We love NYC so much that we are never leaving (unless we get a better offer overseas). That's me in a few sentences, now onto the food!!!
I am really into cooking nutritious/delicious foods, so most of my foods will reflect some kind of nutrition (more to come on that in later posts). Now on to make your own Pizza night (this you can make as healthy or unhealthy as you want)!
Pizza Dough
Makes four 8- to 10-inch pizzas (each ball serves 1 to 2 people, we usually do one per person)
Ingredients -
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for rolling
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 2/3 cups lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons active-dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
- Place the flours and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. (Or knead by hand. I have done both and its simple to do by hand but easier to do in the Kitchen Aid.)
- Combine the water, sugar and yeast in a separate small bowl and let sit for five minutes until the mixture bubbles slightly. Add the olive oil and stir.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the oil-water mixture into the bowl. Knead until the dough is firm and smooth, under 10 minutes. The dough will be very wet and sort of difficult to work with. I liberally coat my hands with flour before attempting to remove
- Divide the dough into four balls, about 7½ ounces each. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. (Be sure to oil the parchment paper.) Place two balls on a sheet. Lightly rub the balls with olive oil, then cover loosely with plastic wrap. The dough is very sticky and wet, so, be sure to coat the balls or the plastic with oil (or you can use cooking spray if you don't want the oil). Let the balls rise in a warm spot until they have doubled in bulk, about two hours.
- Liberally (you need to have a lot down) coat your counter with flour and take each dough ball and roll out to desired consistency. I LOVE thin crust pizza, so I choose to roll out really thin. (I don't get too caught up with the shape, I let the pizza take whatever shape it wants).
- Place on a foil lined (oiled or cooking sprayed) baking sheet.
- Choose your favorite toppings (see below for topping suggestions)
- Bake for aprox 10 minutes (until crust is slightly golden brown)
- ENJOY!!!!
Topping Suggestions
- Healthy Meat Lovers - pizza sauce, turkey pepperoni, turkey bacon, turkey sausage, basil, mozzarela
- Super Healthy - pizza sauce, spinach (pre-cooked), sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese
- Delicious - caramelized onions, grapes, gorgonzola and mascapone cheese
- Medditerian - pizza sauce, chopped olives, sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese
- Margareta - pizza sauce, sliced tomatoes, basil, mozzarela
This meal is super easy, its great for everyone eating to participate in the meal once the dough is done!
Note: This dough freezes beautifully. After the initial rise, punch down the dough, wrap it in plastic and place in a Ziplock bag. Freeze for several months. When ready to use, let sit at room temperature for about an hour, then proceed with rolling/topping/baking.
PS - pictures to come next week (I am on vacation and then traveling for business so don't have access to pictures right now!)
No comments:
Post a Comment