Basic Pizza Dough For Hoisin Prawn Mini Pizzas Recipes

30 MINUTE PIZZA CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Combine 1 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
• Add very warm water and oil; mix until well blended, about 1 minute.
• Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Dough should form a ball and will be slightly sticky.
• Knead** on a floured surface, adding additional flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
• Pat dough with floured hands to fill greased pizza pan or baking sheet. OR roll dough on a floured counter to 12-inch circle; place in greased pizza pan or baking sheet. Form a rim by pinching the edge of the dough.
• If making mini pizzas, divide the dough into four equal portions and pat or roll dough to create 4 mini crusts.
• Spread with pizza sauce. Top with desired toppings and sprinkle with cheese.
• Bake on lowest oven rack for 12 to 15 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned.

MAKE YOUR OWN MINI PIZZAS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick aluminum foil. Place pizza dough on a well-floured surface, press dough firmly with your fingers to shape, and stretch gently into a 12" x 8" rectangle.
• With a round cutter, cut dough into 18-20 rounds; place rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheet. Top each with pizza sauce, cheese, and your desired toppings.
• Bake mini pizzas for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.
• Stir together yeast and warm water in a small bowl; set aside for 5 minutes.
• Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and olive oil in a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Optionally, add dried herbs like basil, oregano or rosemary. Stir in the yeast water. Knead with the dough hook or by hand on a well floured surface for about 5 minutes. If using the stand mixer, once finished kneading, remove dough from bowl and shape into a large ball by hand.
• Oil two bowls lightly with olive oil and set aside. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll into balls. Place each ball into the oiled bowls, seam side down, and coat the tops with a little olive oil. Top each bowl with plastic wrap or a clean, dry towel and place the dough in a warm place (I use an oven preheated to 250 degrees F, then turned off). Let rise 2 hours.
• Once risen, either use immediately by turning dough out onto a floured surface and shaping. Or, wrap dough in plastic wrap, then a plastic bag, and freeze or refrigerate to use later.

EASY HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. *If you don't have a stand mixer, simply use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula in the next step.
• Add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough for 3-4 minutes (for a visual, watch me do it in the video above!). The dough can be a little too heavy for a mixer to knead it, but you can certainly use the mixer on low speed instead. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger - if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading.
• Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray- just use the same bowl you used for the dough. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size. (Tip: For the warm environment on a particularly cold day, heat your oven to 150°F (66°C). Turn the oven off, place the dough inside, and keep the door slightly ajar. This will be a warm environment for your dough to rise. After about 30 minutes, close the oven door to trap the air inside with the rising dough. When it's doubled in size, remove from the oven.)
• Preheat oven to 475°F (246°C). Allow it to heat for at least 15-20 minutes as you shape the pizza. (If using a pizza stone, place it in the oven to preheat as well.) Lightly grease baking sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray or olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal, which gives the crust extra crunch and flavor.
• When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half. (If not making 2 pizzas, freeze half of the dough for another time. See freezing instructions below.) On a lightly floured work surface using lightly floured hands or rolling pin, gently flatten the dough into a disc. Place on prepared pan and, using lightly floured hands, stretch and flatten the disc into a 12-inch circle, about 1/2-inch thick. If the dough keeps shrinking back as you try to stretch it, stop what you're doing, cover it lightly for 5-10 minutes, then try again. Once shaped into a 12-inch circle, lift the edge of the dough up to create a lip around the edges. I simply pinch the edges up to create the rim. If using a pizza stone, place the dough directly on baker's peels dusted with cornmeal.
• Cover dough lightly with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for a few minutes as you prepare your pizza toppings. I suggest pepperoni & green peppers or jalapeño slices, extra cheese pizza, Hawaiian pizza, margherita pizza, pesto pizza, spinach artichoke white pizza, or homemade BBQ chicken pizza.
• Using your fingers, push dents into the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. To prevent the filling from making your pizza crust soggy, brush the top lightly with olive oil. Top with your favorite toppings and bake for 13-15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
• Slice hot pizza and serve immediately. Cover leftover pizza tightly and store in the refrigerator. Reheat as you prefer. Baked pizza slices can be frozen up to 3 months.

EMERIL LAGASSE'S PERFECT PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• In the bowl of your heavy-duty mixer (like a Kenwood or KitchenAid), stir together the water, yeast and sugar; let sit until the mixture is foamy, which takes about 5 minutes.
• Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the oil and salt into the yeast mixture and, using the paddle attachment (also known as the K beater), combine until mixture is smooth.
• Switch to the dough hook.
• With the machine running at low, add remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time; make sure each addition of flour is incorporated before adding the next.
• Once all the flour has been added, turn up the speed and let the machine knead the dough for about 3 minutes; it should be very smooth and perhaps a bit tacky.
• Feel free to add an extra minute or two of kneading if you wish; it won't hurt the dough at all.
• Rub the insides of a large mixing bowl with a little olive oil; remove dough from machine, form into a ball, and place into oiled bowl, turning dough over to make sure all sides are oiled.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free area to rise; the dough should nearly double in size, which will take about 60 to 90 minutes.
• An old habit of mine is to place a towel around the bowl, just to make sure no drafts get to the dough.
• When dough is ready, lightly punch it down and knead it a bit, still right in the bowl.
• Lightly flour your work surface and place dough ball on it; let it rest for 10 minutes.
• This makes one large pizza; if you prefer two smaller pizzas, cut dough in half, then form into two balls and let rest, as above.
• After dough has rested, form into a 16-inch round (or two 8-inch rounds) and you're ready to make pizza, using your favourite toppings.
• The biggest trick here, when stretching out the dough, is not to get frustrated; if you find you're stretching the pizza and it's resisting and is too elastic, bouncing right back from each stretch, just walk away for a few minutes; after you let the pizza rest again, you'll find the dough will let you stretch it out.
• You might even want to try flipping it into the air a bit!
• Warning: let it come down on your knuckles, not your fingertips, or you'll tear the dough!
• The best way to bake your prepared pizza is on a baking stone (or you can use a pizza pan, if you don't have a stone) on your lowest oven rack; Emeril suggests 8 to 10 minutes at 475F, but a little lower temperature for a little longer works just fine too.