I Use Flour (Lots of It)

May 25, 2010

I Use Flour (Lots of It)

I recently acquired a 25 pound bag of flour from Costco. $5.89, suckas. Cha-ching. I was so stoked. I used to get the 5 pound bags but I kept going through those in a matter of a month. So now I totally don't feel bad about using my flour (or about roommates stealing a cup or two). Cookies? Sure! Banana bread? No problem! Pizza? Don't mind if I do!

So, I've been making pizza a lot. My favorite is lamb pizza. No surprise. When I was at the Bee's a couple of weeks ago I tried making the dough in a bread machine. It was a lot easier but didn't work out. The dough didn't stretch as well as it did when I made it by hand. I don't know. I probably screwed something up. It was my first time using a bread machine. I know a lot of people make pizza dough using the bread machine and the crust is fantastic.

Basic Pizza Dough
makes 2 crusts

Ingredients
2 1/4 tsp dry yeast
1 1/3 cups warm water
3 1/2-3/4 all-purpose flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar (optional)

Directions
1. Combine yeast and water and let stand until yeast dissolves (5 min).
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix by hand or on low speed.
3. Knead for 10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer to a bowl lightly coated with olive oil an turn it over once to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. (1-1:30 hours)
4. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. (Hottt.) Grease and dust 2 baking sheets with cornmeal (I never have that but always wish I did.)
5. Punch the dough down and divide in half. Roll each piece into a ball and let rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 10-15 minutes. (This is when I remember that pizza needs a topping and try to come up with something. Takes me much longer than 15 minutes. It seems to be OK.)
6. Flatten each ball of dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round. (I don't have a rolling pin, so I just stretch it. It's really easy.)
7. Place each dough circle on a prepared baking sheet. Left the edge and pick it to form a lip.
8. To prevent the filling from making the crust soggy, brush the top of the dough with olive oil.
9. Let rest for 10 minutes before topping. (This was news to me. I just top it.)