The Rounds Rock: Because, PIZZA!

Breakfast, lunch, dinner...PIZZA. I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm stressed...PIZZA. It's early, it's late, I'm bored...PIZZA. And the most often--I don't know what to make for dinner..PIZZA!!

Pizza is the best. It's easy, everyone likes it, and you can get it from anywhere. But the best place is from your very own kitchen. My kids are not picky eaters but they still have varied tastes. They are, for the most part, easy to please and will smile wide when I shove my next experimental recipe in front of them at dinner time.

When we decide to order pizza out, it's usually much more difficult than it should be. Mostly because we have a non-cheese eater...yes, you read that right, MY daughter doesn't like cheese. Not all cheese, she will eat small portions of SOME kinds of cheese, but if she eats take-out pizza she peels all the cheese off (with most of the toppings of course) where they sit in a little pile and congeal while she nibbles on hot crust and sauce. Solution? I make my own pizza at home. It's cheaper, it tastes better, and I can customize the toppings to make everyone happy. I mean, you could toss just about anything on a pizza crust and it will be delicious. But that's because you have to have good crust. And good crust starts with good dough. And because I know you all are pizza-loving fools like me, I'm going to share with you the absolute BEST recipe for pizza dough you will ever try. It will make you want to throw out all your take-out pizza menus (except for the one for The Pie because, well, The Pie). It's that good.

This dough is amazing because it can not fail. And it's the same recipe for different flavor and textures. The only difference is the time you let it sit. You could make this dough before you go to bed one night and just let it sit on the counter and get super puffy and airy while you work all day, and then come home and be ready to bake the best pizza of your life. Or, you can start it in the morning before work, get a good 10-12 hour sit and have a delicious chewy crust. And then of course, you can stare into your cupboards and fridge repeatedly hoping some inspiration will hit and when it doesn't just think, whatever. This is dumb. I'm just gonna make a pizza. All scenarios will work with this recipe. It gets better the longer it sits, but really, it's perfect regardless.

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups all purpose flour (I have only tried this with half wheat flour, I think full wheat flour might be

a little dense. You would probably need to let it sit over night to really get some air into it)

Yeast: overnight technique you'll need 1/8 a teaspoon (20+ hrs), all day method (12hrs) 1/4 a teaspoon, and the quick method (6hrs) 1/2 teaspoon

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup hot water

DIRECTIONS:

I am OCD so I always proof my yeast. I just have to make sure it's alive before I add my flour. I get too nervous otherwise. But really you could just toss all this into a bowl and set it down to rise. I add my hot water to the bowl and then I sprinkle the yeast over the top. I wait a few minutes to confirm that my yeast is waking up, then I add the salt and the flour. You don't have to knead this dough, in fact, you want it to be a little craggy--that means, kind of chunky and stretchy. This will just add texture later. So whether you mix by hand or with a stand mixer, you only want to mix until just combined.

Then you put it somewhere out of the way and you let it sit. Overnight, all day, or for a few hours. I've never tried freezing this dough but I'm sure it would work fine. Just separate into two lumps and wrap well with plastic wrap and label with the date. When you were ready just defrost and let sit for your desired time and then prep as usual.

When your dough is ready, you only have to separate the dough into equal parts and roll out on a flat, lightly floured surface into your desired shape, transfer to the baking pan, poke some holes in the dough with a fork so you don't get bubbles when it bakes. Top with your favorite sauce, cheese, and toppings and then bake. I usually grease my pizza pans with some olive oil and then sprinkle with some corn meal to give it that authentic texture on the bottom. I would recommend spraying your pans with some kind of non-stick spray or oil but the corn meal is optional.

This dough bakes best HOT. Very HOT. This will be like taste like a brick oven pizza when you're done. So you want to turn your oven up as hot as it will go--500-550 degrees. I usually start my first pizza around 550 and by the last pizza when the oven is good and hot, I drop the temp to 500 degrees and cook the last one. They only need to bake for about 8-10 minutes each. I always double the recipe and make four pizzas very easily.

This crust is so delicious! Sometimes I just brush some olive oil over the top and sprinkle with some Parmesan and make bread sticks, or cheesy bread, or a just sauce pizza for my sweet but strange little lady. You can do anything to this dough and it will be amazing.

I hope you try it and love it as much as me and my family do!