Homemade Pizza Crust

We love pizza in our house. We have a standing make our own pizza night each week. This way everybody gets what they like. I have searched for years to find a homemade crust that I liked. This is the one for me. It can be stretched out as thick or thin as you like. The flavor is wonderful and has a nice pizza parlor, chewy crust. It can be made in a stand mixer, bread machine, or even by hand. This makes 2 medium pizzas or one large. The hardest part? Deciding on toppings!


Ingredients:


2 teaspoons instant yeast or active dry yeast
1 1/8 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups unbleached all- purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese


1) If you're using active dry yeast, dissolve it, with a pinch of sugar, in 2 tablespoons of the lukewarm water. Let the yeast and water sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, until the mixture has bubbled and expanded. If you're using instant yeast, you can skip this step. Combine the dissolved yeast (or the instant yeast) with the remainder of the ingredients. Mix and knead everything together—by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle—till you've made a soft, smooth dough. If you're kneading in a stand mixer, it should take 4 to 5 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom. Don't over-knead the dough; it should hold together, but can still look fairly rough on the surface.


2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow it to rise till it's very puffy. This will take about an hour using instant yeast, or 90 minutes using active dry. If it takes longer, that's OK; just give it some extra time.


3)Divide the dough in half, for two pizzas; or leave it whole for one pizza. Drizzle olive oil on the pans. Stretch the dough over the prepared pans gently. Keep stretching till the crust is at your desired thickness.  If you have a thick crust you might want to bake it before you top it for 7 minutes or so. If you have a thin crust you can top your pizza and bake immediately. Bake at 400 till cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.


Enjoy!

2 med pizzas

Yes, this pizza is all for me.  Margarita Pizza. Drizzle with olive oil, top with sliced Roma tomatoes, fresh chopped basil and sliced fresh mozzarella.

My husband and the kids pizza. I think there might be pepperoni underneath all that cheese.

Lots and lots of cheese

Yum!

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