Bling Princess Ria's Friday Night Homemade Pizza

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August 28, 2007

Bling Princess Ria's Friday Night Homemade Pizza

Ingredients:

3 cups of bread flour (regular flour works, but bread flour is better)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of yeast
2 tablespoons of EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) plus some to coat bowl
1 1/4 cup of warm water
Oregano

Pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella or pizza blend cheese, and whatever toppings strike your fancy.

First, coat one (preferably metal) bowl with EVOO. Then, in a second (preferably metal) bowl, add all the dry ingredients, then add the water. Stir by hand until it is thick and doughy. (DO NOT USE A MIXER, you don't need to stir it that much.) Once the dough is no longer moist, ditch the spoon and finish by kneading it by hand. Once you have a smooth ball of dough, transfer the dough into the bowl you already greased with EVOO. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise on the counter for at least an hour or two, or you can put it in the refrigerator to rise slower over eight to ten hours.

When you're almost ready for pizza, take the dough out of the bowl, and knead it some more. Then cover it with a clean dishtowel and let it rise for another twenty minutes.

After the twenty minutes, you can either make several personal-sized pizzas out of this (like I have to do) or you can make one big pizza. If you're having company you can double the recipe and serve 8 people personal-sized pizzas. I have also used this as an appetitzer and made pizza bites.

Knead the dough into the shape of a pizza, whatever size you choose to make. Spread it with sauce (I use Ragu's Pizza Quick sauce or Contadina sauce. Ragu comes in a little jar and one jar lasts me two Fridays of pizzas, or one double-recipe.) I like to put a thin layer of cheese, and then add toppings, and then add more cheese and a pinch more of oregano. Bake in a preheated 450-degree oven for ten to fifteen minutes.

Let sit for five minutes, then cut into wedges and enjoy!