Pizza Fridays

Friday is Pizza Day at our house. Rarely we order a pizza, more often I make it. This Friday I was feeling under the weather,
so 15 year-old son said, "I can make the pizza, mom."

????? Wow! So I sort of stood/leaned there and told him how to make the dough. He made very nice pizza, even sauteing the mushrooms! I took photos once before, but didn't post the recipe, so here ya go. Get your pizza makin' pants on.

Mamma Cha's Pizza Pie Dough

• 2 c. unbleached white flour
• 1 c. wheat flour
• 1 pkg. yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
• 1 tsp. salt

Stir that dry stuff together. Add:

• 1/4 cup oil around the sides of flour
• aprox. 1 1/2 c warm water (enough to make a really, wet, sticky, mess)

Beat this vigorously with a big spoon or mixer until the dough becomes elastic. (That's the gluten protein strands forming. Science, for you homeschoolers) Gluten Free Recipes Here Then stir in enough flour to make a non-sticky ball. Maybe 1 more cup. I'll get back to you on that after this Friday. For pizza dough I usually knead the dough right in the bowl adding flour as I need it.
Drizzle oil on the nice firm ball of dough and flip to coat it. Set it aside to rise a little. The more it rises, the more soft the dough becomes, but for pizza it's fine to use it within a few minutes. This is a pretty good bread recipe if you rise it 2x. Very similar to my bread machine bread recipe.

Oil up your cookie sheets or pizza pans. This dough will cover 2 big cookie sheets nicely. I stretch half the dough to the length of the pan, then lay it in there and start spreading by pushing down and out. Too much "out" and you'll tear the dough.
I'm not the pizza guy we met in Savannah.

So the order for putting it together is:

• oil your pans
• dough your pans
• sauce
• cheese
• meat, and some veggies if you want them in the middle
  
• cheese
• pepperoni and/or onions, green peppers, mushrooms, peperoncini or banana pepper rings......
  

For sauce I use Del Monte Four Cheese Spaghetti Sauce. Not pizza sauce. One can covers both pizzas, if you like plenty of sauce. I've made pizza sauce, this is easier.