Kim's Pizza

There's 2 dough recipes I used this time. I did one batch in the bread maker and one by hand. So I'll include both. Just to show you don't need a bread machine to make this stuff.

Perfect Parmesan Pizza Dough (recipe from Kraft kitchens):

5 cups of flour, divided
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp fast-rise instant yeast
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups cold water
¼ cup olive oil

Directions:

Mix 4 cups of flour, cheese, yeast and salt in a bowl. Add water and oil, stir until mixture forms a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface for 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic,gradually adding remaining flour.

Cut dough into 4 pieces (each makes enough for a 12 inch pizza). Spray each piece with cooking spray. If using immediately, cover desired number of dough pieces loosely with plastic wrap; let stand for 15 minutes.

You can freeze any extra pieces for up to 3 months. You can refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface. Press into pizza pan and let stand for at least 10 minutes before adding anything.

Dough (bread maker):

1 cup beer (or water if you don't have beer handy)
1 tablespoon shortening
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 ¾ cups white flour
1 ¼ teaspoon bread machine yeast

Optional:
2 tablespoons cornmeal (used when rolling out, do not add in loaf pan)

Place ingredients in pan and select dough setting. Should take about 2 hours. I usually let mine rise for an hour or two after it's done. Just put it in a lightly greased bowl and cover. Let sit out on counter until it rises. You don't need to do this is you like thicker pizza. I like thin so I usually take this step. Divide into 2 sections.

Remove and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Place in pizza pans. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before adding anything to top.

Kim's Pizza:

Dough
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Pepperoni
Ham
Pizza sauce
Pizza oil

Optional:
any other toppings you like-peppers, pineapple, onions, mushrooms, sausage, etc.

Directions:

Cut up toppings while dough is rising and setting. I did simple pizza this time with just ham and pepperoni. Slice both very thinly.

Once the dough is in pan and has set for 10 minutes you can brush with pizza oil. This can be bought in stores. Or make your own by putting some garlic in olive oil and simmering until it grabs the garlic flavor.

Add pizza sauce and spread evenly over dough. You can use store bought pizza sauce or make a batch. Use pasta sauce or tomato sauce, add a couple teaspoons of sugar and some spices. Basil and oregano work well. You can also add some garlic to the sauce. Also Parmesan cheese in the sauce is nice. It's all about personal taste for pizza.

Add meat toppings evenly.

Sprinkle with a generous helping of Parmesan cheese.

Add mozzarella cheese to taste. I like tons.

If you want to add green peppers or pineapple do so now.

Slip in a preheated 450 degree oven. If doing one at a time place on bottom rack. If doing multiples place one on bottom and one on middle and rotate part way through. Your cheese will brown up a bit this way so if you don't like that do one at a time. I like mine browned a bit so I usually cook 2 at a time. Takes about 15-18 minutes to cook.

Remove, cut and serve.

So I did three last night. Two were just normal pans. One was done on a stone. These are lovely if you have one. Worth the investment. I bought mine about 15 years ago I think. They get better with age.

If you like yours less brown just cut the time down a bit. Personally I like mine crispier. Nothing irks me more than undercooked pizza. We ordered panzerotti's this week and mine was not even cooked properly. The cheese was not even melted inside. That is just not cool.

Pizza is so easy to make and there are hundreds of variations of it. It's simple and you can make it any way you want. There is no right or wrong way. Just pile on what you love and go for it. If you have young kids or teenagers, make individual ones for them to make their own way. They love doing this.

Hope you enjoy. The Parmesan dough is quite lovely. Smoochies.