Thin Crust Pizza

Pizza in our household is a must.  On most Fridays, we are making pizzas for dinner, which we get to enjoy eating in front of the tv watching a movie together (the only time the kids get to do this!).  Pizza is wrapped up in good feelings and does not have to be the greasy, unhealthy fast food.  You can make the dough ahead, which is fast and easy, then top it off and send it to the heat.  Making a great healthy, but relatively quick meal.  While this pizza crust is thin, it is not super crispy, which I like.  The pizza dough recipe originally comes from Giada de Laurentiis, though I like to mix it up a bit whether by adding half whole wheat flour to my dough or changing the pizza toppings every time.  The fun part of pizza is making it your own and trying new ingredients.  We sometimes even slice zucchini very very thin and put it under the cheese so it softens as it bakes.  Here are some of our all time favorites.  Enjoy!

Thin Crust Pizza Dough

3/4 cup warm water (105*-115*)

1 envelope (1 Tblsp) active dry yeast

2 cups all purpose flour (or 1 cup whole wheat flour & 1 cup white flour)

1 teaspoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoon olive oil

Pour ¾ cup warm water into glass measuring cup; stir in yeast.  Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.  Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in kitchen aid or food processor (with dough hook/blade).  Add 3 Tablespoons olive oil to yeast mixture in glass measuring cup.  With kitchen aid or food processor stirring flour mixture add the yeast/oil mixture and let knead until dough forms into a somewhat sticky ball.  

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough until smooth, adding more flour by the Tablespoon if dough is too sticky.  Transfer to a bowl with olive oil in bottom; turning dough to coat with oil (this helps keep the dough soft).  Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen cloth and let dough rise in warm area until doubled in volume (about 1 hour).  If you are in a hurry you can always heat your oven to warm (170*) and then turn it off.  I put my dough in a metal bowl and then let it rise in the oven (warmed up, but not still on). Punch down dough. 

Take 2 half baking sheets out and cut 2 pieces of parchment paper that would fit inside the pans.  Now you are going to look at this small amount of dough and say, "There is no way this is going to make 2 pizzas big enough to fit these 2 half baking sheets."  But I promise they will, so don't give up just yet.  Take the dough in your hands and pinch it in half creating equal parts of dough.  Take one of the sheets of parchment paper and put in on your countertop.  Take one of the two pieces of dough and roll it out into a rectangle that would fit inside the half baking sheet.  You are doing this so you don't have to try and peel a very thin pizza dough off of your counter and then reshape it in the pan.  Genius, no?  Place parchment paper with rolled out pizza dough on it back into the half baking sheet. 

Now you can top it off.  Use your favorite pizza sauce, pesto, BBQ sauce, white sauce, etc.  Put some cheese on there.  Of course, the best quality cheese (which does not mean most expensive!) will make your pizza taste better, such as fresh mozzarella (sliced), Fontina, Parmigiana Reggiano, or Gouda.  Trader Joes has great cheeses.  But whatever you do, do not buy the pre-shredded cheeses in the grocery store!  They are dried out and not very yummy.  So you get to grate it yourself (the dumb job as my husband says).  But you will thank me, because your pizza will taste better.  And lastly toppings.  Meats, veggies, whatever you like.  Just make sure you don't overload the pizza with too much sauce or toppings as this will make a soggy pizza.  

Then bake at 475*F for 16-19 minutes.  Every oven is different so make sure your crust isn't getting too brown and crusty.  You want it golden brown.  Pull it out and let it sit for a few minutes so the cheese can stiffen up a bit.  Serve and enjoy every bite!

Makes 2 large thin crust pizzas

Our Favorite Combinations:

pizza sauce, fontina, parmigiana reggiano, mozzarella, mushrooms (sliced), and small cubed pancetta

pizza sauce, sliced mozzarella, thinly sliced tomatoes, fresh basil leaves (washed & dried)

pesto, sliced mozzarella, thinly sliced tomatoes, sliced mushrooms

white sauce, sliced mozzarella, spinach, pancetta