Pizza Night is a long time Friday evening in our house. I have a few beers and make pizza from scratch. Anything goes for pizza toppings but the first pizza will usually have pepperoni on it, since that’s the kids favorite. The second pizza may have Italian sausage, ham, goat cheese, or anything else that is handy in the refrigerator.
This year the 4th of July fell on a Sunday. I was out of town on Friday, so we had Independence Day pizza on Sunday the 4th. The theme was Red, White and Blue, so the second pizza had roasted red peppers, caramelized white onions, and crumbled blue cheese. I also threw on the fresh basil and mushrooms. Everyone devoured the second pizza; it made a great finish for the weekend since the 4th ended up to be a rainy night.
Continue past the break for my pizza dough recipe.
Pizza Dough (makes 2 12 inch pizzas)
4 Cups Bread Flour
1 tbsp Sugar
1/2 tbsp Kosher Salt
2 1/4 tsp quick rise yeast
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 1/2 Cup Water
Add ingredients in order into a mixing bowl or food processor work bowl. Knead for 10 minutes with a stand mixer using the dough hook. If mixing in a food processor, pulse three times for 5 seconds each to incorporate ingredients and then continue processing for 30 seconds. Pour dough out of bowl onto a floured surface, knead briefly and transfer to an oiled bowl for rising. Allow to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. After rising, punch and divide the dough into two balls and let rise another 15 minutes.