Pizza Dough | 20something cupcakes

You’ve already heard me wax poetic on the subject of homemade pizza night.

And while Daniel and I do consider ourselves as the only guests enough to constitute calling it a party, there’s no doubt that the old adage “the more, the merrier” also applies.

We’ve been wanting to host a make-your-own pizza party for some time now, but I never could quite figure out how to do it with just one lonely pizza stone. The solution? This great new pizza dough recipe I recently discovered that makes perfectly thin and crispy crust in a baking sheet. Brilliant! Lord knows I’ve got plenty of those.

I found the pizza dough recipe through this fabulous three-cheese pizza recipe with pancetta and mushrooms, which I’ve adapted below. I doubled it and added more toppings (arugula and Prosciutto – feel free to add your own favorite ingredients) to make 4 pizzas, serving 6-8 people (which for us was more like 4-6 – ha!).

Everyone had so much fun getting in the kitchen and playing chef. I loved it because I had everything prepared in advance, and thus had plenty of time to enjoy with our guests.

Get all of your cheese-shredding and sauce-making done earlier in the day, and then bring them out before guests arrive.

Same with the preparation of the toppings.

{Though you may want to let guests know that the pancetta is a topping and not an hors d’oeuvre – note the half-eaten bowl of it in the back!}

Our friends couldn’t believe how easy it was to make homemade pizza – and you won’t either! As long as you give yourself a little time to make the dough in advance and get your prep work done, you’ll be spending minimal time in the kitchen.

{Leaving maximal time for cocktailing}

Happy pizza-making!

Three-Cheese Pizzas with Assorted Toppings

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis via Bon Appétit

Pizza dough {double recipe below to make 4 pizzas}

2 1/2 cups marinara sauce {store-bought or homemade}

2 cups coarsely grated Fontina cheese

2 cups coarsely grated mozzarella cheese

1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1 (8-ounce?) package sliced baby bella mushrooms

6 ounces thinly-sliced pancetta (Italian bacon), coarsely chopped

2 cups arugula

6 ounces Prosciutto, torn or chopped into large pieces

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

First, prep your ingredients. Get your cheeses grated (I recommend using a food processor) and set aside. (I grate my own Fontina and Parmesan and typically buy the mozzarella pre-shredded – if I use fresh, I will slice it rather than shred it.) If you’re making your marinara, do that ahead of time and set aside.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add pancetta and sauté until crispy. Remove to a paper towel to drain, leaving rendered fat in the pan. Add mushrooms to the pan, season with salt, and sauté until the moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms are browned. Set aside.

When you’re ready to make your pizzas, reheat oven to 475°F. Line 4 large baking sheets with parchment. Divide dough into four equal pieces. Roll each onto a lightly floured surface to form a 13 1/2 x 8 1/2-inch (approximately!) rectangle. Transfer to baking sheets. Spread marinara sauce over each pizza, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cheeses and preferred toppings (except for the arugula, which should be added after baking) on top. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake pizzas until brown on bottom and cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. Cut each pizza crosswise into rectangles and enjoy!

Pizza Dough

From Giada De Laurentiis via Bon Appétit

3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough. Roll out dough according to recipe instructions. (Start in center of dough, working outward toward edges but not rolling over them.)

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. Let come to room temperature before proceeding.

My favorite way to spend a Friday night is a pizza party. An adult one. With lots and lots of red wine.

That’s right. I said Friday night.

Call it what you want, but I’ll take a pizza party at home over a night out at the bar any time of the week. Particularly if there’s lots of red wine involved.

And so, this was our very first pizza party – homemade crust and all. In my {slightly neurotic} opinion, those Boboli crusts are for the birds. Homemade pizza night means just that: It’s all got to be homemade. That means dough and sauce. But don’t be afraid, my dears, because they’re both actually quite simple to make. The only tricky part, and it’s not even that tricky, is that you have to give yourself ample time to let the dough rise – about one hour.

You know what that means. More time for red wine-drinking.

So grab your favorite glass, fill it up, and let’s make some pizza. To start, here’s the super-simple crust. Did I mention it’s made with whole wheat flour? That makes it…you know, healthier. We can pretend we’re eating less calories now.

Like I said, this was my first attempt at pizza dough, and certainly not the last. I enjoyed it, though I have since made other crusts that I’ve enjoyed more {continue to stay on the lookout for a breakfast pizza that’s sure to majorly knock your socks off}. It is definitely a thicker dough, and I tend to prefer a thinner, crispier crust.

Some things that may make your life easier: a stand mixer, and a pizza stone. Don’t worry, though – you can live without. If you don’t have a circular pizza pan, you can use one of your cookie sheets and make a rectangular pizza. And if you’re feeling particularly lazy, you can buy pre-made pizza dough from your grocery store. They usually have it both in the freezer and in the bakery.

Pizzeria Style Semi-Whole Wheat Crust

via Sweet & Savory

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/3 cups warm water
1 package yeast
1/2 teaspoons salt

Combine water and yeast and let sit for a few minutes. Stir in salt and flour and mix on medium high for 5 minutes. I used my Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook. Drizzle in olive oil while it is mixing. When soft and elastic, remove from bowl and cover with more olive oil. Put back in the mixing bowl, cover with a dish towel and let it rise for 1 hour.

{Re-fill glass of wine here}

After it has risen, punch down and divide in half, to make two pizzas. With oiled hands stretch dough to cover pizza pan. Keep pressing with your fingers until it covers the pan.

And now for the sauce. It’s super-easy. There’s just no reason to buy the jarred stuff.

Pizza Sauce

via Big Girls, Small Kitchen

2 garlic cloves, minced
1 28 can crushed tomatoes, or whole tomatoes pureed in a food processor
6 basil leaves, coarsely torn
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of red pepper flakes

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, saute the garlic in 1 tablespoon of oil until fragrant, about 1 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until the sauce is reduced to about 2 1/2 cups. Add the basil, and season sauce with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes more, then turn off the heat and cool to room temperature. (You can make this 3-4 days in advance).

Makes about 2 cups sauce. If you have any leftover, you can always freeze it for next time.

And now, for the fun part. The toppings!

Pizza with Fresh Mozzarella, Sopressata, and Basil

1 ball pizza dough
3/4 – 1 cup pizza sauce
1 lb fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
6 oz sopressata or other Italian cured meat, thinly sliced
10 basil leaves

Pizza with Mushrooms, Shallots, and Scallions

{pictured in first photo}

1 ball pizza dough
3/4 – 1 cup pizza sauce
6 oz (3/4 cup) shredded whole milk mozzarella
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
3 scallions, chopped into large pieces
1/2 – 3/4 cup sauteéd mushrooms {7-10 minutes over medium-high heat in a bit of olive oil}

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. We made the pizzas one at a time so that we could enjoy each one right out of the oven. Spoon the sauce lightly over your first prepared dough and spread evenly across the top, almost reaching the edge of the crust. Add your cheese and toppings.

Pop the pizza into the oven {preferably on a baking stone} and bake for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese starts to brown. Remove and let it chill for a minute, then slice, serve, eat, and repeat.

Go ahead, have another glass of wine. I’m not judging.