Easy Pizza Dough From Scratch Fine Cooking Magazine Recipes

HOW TO MAKE PIZZA DOUGH FROM SCRATCH AND SHAPE IT LIKE A PRO

Steps:

• Place the yeast and sugar in a medium bowl. Pour the warm water over it and whisk until the yeast dissolves. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. When the yeast activates (it'll start to bubble up to the surface), whisk in the salt and olive oil. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Turn dough over on your work surface and start kneading it. In the beginning, the dough will be sticky. If it sticks a little to the counter top, that's fine. Try to knead a little faster to prevent it from sticking. If it sticks a lot, add as little flour as you can to prevent it from sticking to the counter top too much. A slightly sticky dough will yield a wonderfully light pizza crust, so this is a crucial step. Don't add too much flour or the dough will be firmer and harder to shape, and the crust will be stiff. Continue kneading the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Roll dough in flour until well dusted and place in a large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, place in a warm place (75°F to 80°F) (24ºC to 27ºC) and allow dough to rise for 1 hour, until doubled in size. (If the ambient temperature is lower than 75°F (24ºC), it could take 15 to 30 minutes longer for the dough to double in size.)
• Punch down dough and scrape it off the bowl. Cut dough in 2 equal parts and shape each into a ball. Roll each ball in bread flour and place each ball into a gallon-size plastic bag. Seal the bag, leaving plenty of room for the dough to expand, and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 36 hours, until ready to make your pizzas.
• Place the pizza stone in the oven, on a rack located at the bottom third of the oven. (The stone should be about 9" from the roof of the oven.) Set the oven to 500°F (260°C) and preheat for 30 minutes. Then, without opening the oven, turn it off and turn on the broiler to high heat. Preheat broiler for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sprinkle a pizza peel with cornmeal or bread flour and set aside. Take one piece of dough from the refrigerator and sprinkle top and bottom with a little flour. Gently stretch the dough into an 8″ circle. Next, grabbing the edges of the dough, work your way around the outside edge, stretching it as you go. When the dough is stretched into a 16″ circle, place on the prepared pizza peel. Sprinkle dough with your toppings of choice. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone by giving it a quick jerking movement and then gently shaking the peel to loosen the pizza. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes until the crust is browned on the edges. Slide the pizza back onto the peel and serve immediately. Keep the broiler on and make the 2nd pizza.

BASIC PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk to combine and then let sit until bubbles have formed on the top, about 10 minutes. Add the flour, olive oil and salt and mix with the dough hook on medium-low speed until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and knead until the dough is shiny and elastic, about 10 minutes.
• Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until the dough is doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until the dough is doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Punch down the dough, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days before making your pizzas. Makes enough dough for 2 12-inch pizzas.

PIZZA FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the oil, salt, sugar and 2 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rest in a warm place for 10 minutes. , Meanwhile, combine sauce ingredients; set aside. Divide dough in half. On a floured surface, roll each portion into a 13-in. circle. Transfer to greased 12-in. pizza pans; build up edges slightly. Prick dough thoroughly with a fork. , Bake until lightly browned, 12-15 minutes. Spread sauce over hot crusts to within 2-in. of edges; top with sausage, mushrooms, green pepper and cheese. Bake 20 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

QUICK AND EASY PIZZA CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan or baker's peel dusted with cornmeal. Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

EASY PIZZA DOUGH FROM SCRATCH-FINE COOKING MAGAZINE

Steps:

• Pour water into a 3 quart bowl, or large lidded plastic food container.
• Using a wooden spoon, mix in the oil, salt, yeast, and sugar.
• Don't worry about dissolving all of the ingredients; just stir well to combine. Don't bother proofing the yeast either-it shouldn't fail if used before it's expiration date.
• Add the flour and mix until uniformly moist. The dough will be quite wet. No kneading is necessary.
• Cove the bowl with plastic wrap, or partially cover. Leave the lid open a bit to let gases escape. Let the dough rise for two hours at room temperature. The dough will fully expand and may even begin to collapse by this time.
• Do not punch down the dough. It will collapse on its own and later shrink while it chills in the refrigerator. It will never regain it's height, and that's OK. Chill for at least 3 hours before using. After 2 days, tightly cover the bowl to keep the surface of the dough from drying out. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. After that, tightly wrap into 1/2 pound balls and freeze for up to 3 weeks.
• On a floured board, roll, and use your fingers to stretch the dough to your liking. If the dough continues to contract, let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes, covered, then stretch some more. Add your favorite pizza toppings.
• Bake in the bottom third of the oven using a pizza stone or baking sheet. I use parchment paper so the dough does not stick. Turn the pizza half way through baking.
• Depending on how thick or thin you like your pizza crusts, the amount varies. I make two large pizzas with very thin crusts, about 12X18". Prep times are approximate.
• For thin crusts (1/16th of an inch thick), bake at 550 for 10 to 15 minutes.
• For regular style crust (1/8 inch thick) bake at 550 for 8 to 10 minutes.
• For a thick crust (1/2" thick) bake at 500 for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Let pizza sit for a minute or two before cutting.
• Variations:.
• Whole wheat dough: subsitute one cup of whole wheat flour for the same amount of all purpose flour, and add 2 tablespoons of extra water.
• Cornmeal dough: substitute 1 cup of stone ground yellow cornmeal for the same amount of all purpose flour and add 1 tablespoon of extra water.

EASY AND QUICK HOMEMADE PIZZA

Steps:

• In large bowl, mix first 4 ingredients.
• Mix water and oil; add to flour mixture.
• Turn onto floured surface; knead for 2 minutes.
• Place in a greased bowl; turning to grease top.
• Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.
• Punch down; place on 12in, greased pizza pan.
• Pat into a circle.
• Topping: Mix first 5 ingredients and spread over crust.
• Put a few pepperoni slices on top of sauce.
• Sprinkle with 1/2 the mozzeralla; 1/2 the monterey jack, and 1/2 the parmesan.
• Put the rest of the pepperoni on.
• Repeat the cheese layer.
• Bake at 400* for 20 minutes or until light brown.

CLASSIC MACARONI AND CHEESE FROM FINE COOKING

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees and butter 9x13" baking dish.
• Cook macaroni according to package directions just until tender and drain well.
• Melt 12 tablespoons of butter in a heavy-based medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, onion, bay leaf, thyme, and peppercorns; reduce heat to medium low and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, to make a roux. Slowly whisk the milk into rux until smooth and blended. Raise heat to medium-high; whisk constantly until mixture boils. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened. Lower heat and continue simmering for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Strain sauce into a large bowl, removing the onion, herbs, and peppercorns. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cheddar cheese, stirring until cheese is melted. Toss pasta with cheese sauce and pour mixture into baking dish.
• Melt last 2 tablespoons butter and toss with breadcrumbs. Spread the buttered curmbs over casserole. Bake until sizzling and lightly browned, about 40 minutes. Cover with foil is browns too quickly.

PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• In a medium bowl combine water, yeast, sugar, and salt.
• Let sit until foam appears on the top.
• In the bowl of a stand up mixer combine the yeast mixture with the olive oil, salad oil, and 3 cups of the flour.
• With the whip attachment, beat for 10 minutes.
• Clean and remove the whip attachment. Add the remaining flour and cheese.
• With the dough hook attachment in place, slowly pulse the mixer on and off until the flour is incorporated.
• Continue kneading on medium speed for 10-12 minutes or until the dough is smooth and no longer clings to the sides of the mixer.
• If you need to add more flour, do so 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is no longer sticking to the sides.
• Transfer the dough to a large, oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
• Place in a warm location and allow to rise for one hour or until doubled in size.
• Punch down dough and allow to rise a second time.
• After the second rise the dough is ready to be divided and rolled, or stored in the freezer.

CLASSIC MEATLOAF (FROM FINE COOKING MAGAZINE)

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350.
• In a small skillet, heat the oil and saute onions for 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 1 or 2 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients except for the bacon and add the onion mixture. Mix until ingredients are just combined - do not overmix.
• Turn out the meat mixture onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or foil and form into slightly oval loaf. OR, divide into 4 equal mini-loaves.
• Wrap strips of bacon around the meatlaof, tucking the ends under the loaf.
• Bake the meatloaf for about 50 to 60 minutes for a larger loaf or 25 to 35 for mini loaves. Before slicing, let the meatloaf rest for 10 minutes to let the juices redistribute.