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What’s your favorite type of make-at-home pizza crust? We really want to know!
What’s your favorite type of make-at-home pizza crust? The field is a lot more crowded now that ever before, and my newest favorite kind is very homemade – only without the “home.” Publix supermarkets in Florida have started selling what I call dough balls – an already-kneaded and ready-to-rise ball of store-made pizza dough.
I just take it home, roll it out, throw on whatever toppings, bake and voila – homemade pizza dough in a hurry.
There are other options, too, of course:
Those include Boboli partially baked crusts that I also like a lot. Perhaps the worst of all supermarket options, to my mind, is Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust. Let me be clear that there’s almost nothing better than a Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust or a Pillsbury frozen Southern-style biscuit. Perhaps because these other products are such triumphs, the utter dismal failure of their pizza dough is perplexing. (The last time I judged the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 2008 I was assigned, of course, to the pizza category. Almost every entry was inedible, due to the crust, much to the detriment of the creative toppings that the Bake-Off contestants had devised.)
When I'm really in a Mother Earth mode, I sometimes make the dough in my bread machine. Alicia has been experimenting with truly homemade crust -- a la Mollie Katzen of Moosewood fame. Does anyone else out there make the real thing? How does it compare?
So raves and rants and shout-outs for quick or traditional pizza crust options? I’m dying to know what you do at home!
Related Recipes
Chicken and Caramelized Onion Pizza
When we tested this “fancy” pizza by serving it to friends (and their children) for an impromptu Saturday night gathering, everyone raved! The secret is caramelized onions.
Read full recipe.
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Comments
I make a crust in my mixer. The basic recipe is nothing special, just flour, water, sugar, salt, yeast, and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.
Then I add a couple of tablespoons of garlic powder and a healthy dose of Italian seasoning.
When I roll it out, I take some string cheese, tear it into thirds, lengthwise, and pull the outer edge of the crust over it for instant “stuffed crust”.
Yum.
I have heard of using the food processor for dough and pie crust making, but never the mixer. I have such an old mixer it doesn’t have a dough hook attachment, so until I upgrade, I’ll have to stick to my hands, I guess.But I do love the idea of the stuffed crust!
Alicia
I have a Kitchenaid with the dough hook. Before I got that, I was doing it by hand, every weekend.
I use either the bread machine or my KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook. I find that prebaking the crust just a bit before putting sauce on keeps it from getting soggy. And a good pizza stone really does help, but for years I just made it in a cheap round metal pizza pan with holes that helped the crust get crispy.
I love this food processor pizza dough recipe - so easy and dependable!
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/processor-pizza-dough-684623/
I’m a fan of the Publix “balls” too. We had that pizza for dinner a couple of nights ago. I’ll have to try the Family Fun recipe that another posted linked to sometime, though.
I make a simple dough that works fine for pizza:
2 1/4 cups King Arthur Flour, can be half whole wheat
up to 3 teaspoons of yeast, dissolve in water, give a bit of sugar to get going
3 tablespoons oil
water
Mix together and let rise - only takes about 30 minutes to rise
Knead a bit and roll out into crust.
This is adapted from the Red Star Yeast Pizza Crust recipe
I make my pizza on an Air Bake pan, bake at 425 F for 25 minutes with the oven rake at the bottom position or next to bottom. We get a nice crispy crust that is not burnt and the top is toasted but not burnt.
My question is: what is all the fuss about making pizza dough?
I don’t make pizza crust at home. My mom made amazing pizza at homw. It’s time I asked her for the recipe.
Nisrine
Thanks so much for all of these terrific ideas everyone!