I'm never completely satisfied with a recipe. No matter how many times I make the same recipe, I'm convinced I could still make it better, healthier, tastier.
And there is always the possibility that a better recipe exists out there that I have not yet tried.
There is no way of counting how many pizza crust recipe I have tried over the years. We eat pizza weekly, which gives many opportunities to make pizza crust. When someone starts a conversation with "I tried your pizza crust recipe..." immediately my mind is leaping to wonder which pizza crust recipe I was excited about at the time I gave her the recipe.
Typically, no matter what recipe I try once or twice, I always come back to my Mom's tried and true pizza crust recipe. After finding a way to turn the recipe to 100% whole wheat and crisp up the bottom crust, I liked this recipe even more.
But my recipe dysfunction is still alive and well. I knew there was more options to try.
One of those was baking on a stone. I have always heard that stone baked pizza was the best. Period. I found a baking stone and a pizza peel at a yard sale but they sat in the cupboard. I was too intimidated to try. Until this fall when my friend Nola gave me her recipe for pizza crust that they bake in their grill on a stone.
I adapted the recipe, first adjusting the size for a larger batch for our family, then replacing the sugar with honey and the white flour for whole wheat and decreasing the total amount of flour. By now she probably wouldn't even want her name to be put to this recipe and I'm sure her original tastes better, but this version works for us.
Pizza Crust
1 1/2 cup warm water
4 cup whole wheat flour
1 T olive oil
2 tsp honey
2 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast
cornmeal
About an hour or two before you plan to eat, mix all ingredients but 1/2 cup flour and cornmeal. Allow to rest for five minutes. Knead five minutes adding additional flour if needed. Rise for 1-2 hours.
If using a stone, preheat in 550 degree oven. Sprinkle peel generously with cornmeal. If you don't have a peel, use the back of a baking sheet. It works just as well, just doesn't look as cool.
Divide your dough into however many pieces you wish. I like to make three 12 inch pizzas. Roll out your dough and place on peel.
Add toppings as desired.
Slide pizza onto hot stone in oven - or bake on a baking sheet or pizza pan. Bake at 550 degrees for 5-7 minutes.
Ask us in a year what pizza crust recipe I'm using. But for now, this is our all time favorite!
Ah, Gina, if you want a challenge, let me know and I'll send a recipe for coconut flour crust. :). If you want a challange try moving out of the "norm" and use coconut/almond flour. That is much healthier for you. :)
ReplyDeleteI love my stone, but don't have a peel. It's something I really wanted to acquire. But, for right now my doctor wants me gluten free, so I'd have no use for it. I attempted a g-free pizza crust this week for the first time. It did the trick, but sure didn't knock my socks off. It really just left me wishing it was my sour-dough crust... I like reading and trying so many of the recipes you share. :0)
ReplyDeletemiam miam ......
ReplyDeletemarylin from France
I think I might have some of your problems myself! =) I'm still messing around with that recipe too. I think I might have to try a version of this one. Nola
ReplyDeleteI am the SAME way! Crusts and sauce are always being experimented with. BUT I have found our all time favorite way to make it now but it is with white flour so I am afraid to try anything else because we love this crust so much. I will try this one though because I know I should be trying to eat whole wheat. Thanks for sharing your obsession with us. And I was using my stone and peel constantly and my stone broke so I have just been using my regular pans. Still works well though.
ReplyDeleteI was there for dinner last night, and can attest that it was delicious! Thanks!
ReplyDelete-Sonya
Pam--the blog "gluten free girl" has a very good pizza crust that is GF. It calls for eggs, which means I can't use it for my allergic kiddo. =( So many of those gf pizza crust recipes spread like mashed potatoes and taste like paper when cooked. ick.
ReplyDelete