Pizza success!

[ama47369]

Woohoo! We had friends over for dinner last night and we made pizza for them. I was a bit scared, because I have only made it a few times when it turned out, but wanted to give it another go. We made two pizzas, and it was my DH's idea to make each pizza have one half one type of pizza and the other half something else.

So, we ended up with 4 types of pizzas--

BBQ Chicken-with BBQ sauce, garlic, onions, Feta, BBQ Chicken, and Mozzerella.

Pepperoni and Green Olives-I used the recipe Gail posted for Eating Well's Pizza sauce and Mozzerella

Chicken Alfredo-alfredo sauce, green onions, sliced Romas, chicken stirred with Alfredo sauce, fresh basil and Mozzerella

Sundried Tomato Pesto-pesto sauce, sliced red peppers, and fresh basil

Well, I was shaping the dough as our guest rang our door buzzer. And, I used the Cook's Illustrated method of rolling out the dough.(putting the dough on wax paper and putting glad wrap on top to roll the dough out)Putting the Glad wrap on top of the dough made it very easy to roll it out. When I took the plastic off, and it was time to slide the wax paper and dough onto the stone, I got scared that the dough might not come off the wax paper. I started thinking, "What have a I gotten myself into?"

But, after the pizza was done, it came off the paper fine. The pizza turned out beautifully! I was so excited! The biggest hit was the Chicken Alfredo Pizza!

Thanks for all the toppings ideas and pizza advice! This experience turned out to be a lot of fun!

http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Amanda

[This message has been edited by ama47369 (edited 06-02-2001).]

[matt]

Can you post the pizza's that you made. The bbq chicken sounds really great. thnks matt

[ama47369]

Matt,

I used the All-Purpose Pizza Dough recipe, and just threw the above listed toppings on the dough. I did bake the crust a little bit before I topped the pizza. Also, through trial, I discovered that I had better success using less flour-so I added that flour to the yeast in 4 increments of 2/3 cups for a total of 2 2/3 cups instead of the called for 3 1/4 cups

All-purpose Pizza Dough

SOURCE: Cooking Light YEAR: 2000 ISSUE: March PAGE: 132

INGREDIENTS FOR 1 SERVINGS:
1 package dry yeast (about 2-1/4 teaspoons)
1-1/4 cups warm water (100 degrees to 110 degrees)
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray

INSTRUCTIONS:
This basic recipe, which can be used to make calzones, focaccia, or
bread, can easily be doubled.

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl, and let stand 5
minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a
knife. Add 1 cup flour and salt to yeast mixture, and stir well. Stir
in 2 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and
elastic (about 10 minutes), and add enough of the remaining flour, 1
tablespoon at a time, to prevent the dough from sticking to hands
(dough will feel tacky).

2. Place the dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning
to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free
from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into
dough. If an indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch
dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Shape dough according to the
recipe directions. Yield: 1 pizza dough.

I baked the pizzas at 450 degress F until the crust was done and cheese bubbly.

Note: To freeze, let the dough rise once, punch down, and shape into a
ball. Place in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag coated with cooking
spray; squeeze out all air, and seal. Store in freezer for up to 1
month. To thaw, place dough in refrigerator 12 hours or overnight.
With scissors, cut away the plastic bag. Place dough on a floured
surface, and shape according to recipe directions. Alternatively, for
pizza, you can make the dough, roll out, wrap in foil, and freeze. To
bake, remove from freezer; top and bake according to recipe
instructions (no need to thaw).

(Totals are for entire All-purpose Pizza Dough)

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
CALORIES 1,505 (3% from fat); FAT 5g (sat 0.8g, mono 0.7g, poly 2.1g);
PROTEIN 44.6g; CARB 312.7g; FIBER 12.9g; CHOL 0mg; IRON 20mg; SODIUM
1,184mg; CALC 66mg




[This message has been edited by ama47369 (edited 06-02-2001).]