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Thursday, October 02, 2014

Grandma's Pizza

This is the best at home recipe for pizza I have ever had!! I watched this episode on America's Test Kitchen and thought, "that can't be as good as they say." But it is. It is also super easy and costs between $3.50-$5.00, depending on if you buy the ingredients on sale or not. The bottom is always so crunchy. I love it. 

I was just about to call Jared and ask him to bring home a $5 Little Caesars pizza, but my frugal side kicked in and I made this instead. It tastes better too. It is hard to be lazy when you know you can make something that tastes better and is cheaper. 

Grandma Pizza
Serves 4-6

Dough
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups (8 1/4 ounces) bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt

Topping
1(28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (1 cup)
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (1 cup)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Coat rimmed baking sheet with 2 tablespoons oil. In your KitchAid, mix flour, yeast, sugar, and salt on low speed until combined. Add water and oil. Mix for about 10 minutes until dough is pulling away from the walls of the bowl. 

Place dough on cookie sheet and stretch to about 10" x 6". Let rise until doubled in size about 1 to 1½ hours. Stretch dough to corners of pan and let rise until slightly puffed, about 45 minutes. While it rises, place oven rack to lowest position and heat to 500 degrees.

Drain tomatoes. Combine tomatoes, oil, garlic, oregano, and salt in bowl. 

Sprinkle Parmesan over the dough. I have used both the stuff in the green can and fresh shredded Parmesan. I don't notice a difference. The real difference I notice is when I use all mozzarella, like the original recipe calls for. It is much better when you use half cheddar as half mozzarella (which is what I list in the   ingredients). 

Sprinkle on cheddar and mozzarella.  Top with tomato mixture and bake until browned and bubbling, about 15-20 minutes. Slide pizza onto wire rack (this is important - the time I skipped this step the bottom was more mushy and not crisp) and let cool for 5 minutes. Enjoy. 



5 comments:

  1. What do you recommend if someone does not have a kitchen aid mixer? Besides buying one 😉

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  2. Do you have a food processor? I don't, but I hear they do a good job kneading dough. Or there is always kneading by hand, the old fashion way. :) I do that with bread sometimes because I find it relaxing. This dough is a bit wet, so use flour, but not too much. The extra water in the dough helps the gluten relax and spread more easily.

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  3. In regards to kitchenaids, I also suggest having someone else buy you one. Ha ha. I saw one on sale on the clearance rack at Target for $200. It was near the vaccums.

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  4. I am going to try this dough next time I make pizza. I just bought a ball of mozzarella and I've been planning on making pizza but I'm tired of my recipe (from Smitten Kitchen - good, but I need something new). I always use store-bought pizza sauce - I bet it makes a difference if you make your own. Have you ever tried using fresh tomatoes? I have some I need to use and I wondered if I could substitute them for the canned tomatoes.

    -Sarah

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  5. I think real tomatoes would be fine. I would remove the skins.

    ReplyDelete

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