I like making my own dough for pizzas, bread sticks, calzones, etc. Only thing is, I want it to be easy yet, different. I know, that sounds weird, but we like whole grains, or unusual textures for some kinds of breads. Here's a recent recipe I used to make a cheese and garlic appetizer bread. I used an organic Sunflower/Millet flour and a Mexican Blend cheese for it.
Pizza Dough
1 cup water (110° F)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 pkg rapid rise yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast)
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup bread flour
2 - 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (or any specialty grain flour such as Sunflower/Millet, Oatmeal or 7 Grain)
1/2 tsp sea salt
Additional flour for kneading
1 tsp olive oil (for bowl)
butter
granulated garlic
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (your choice - mozzarella, asiago, cheddar, a blend - any will work)
1/2 cup grated parmesan
Directions:
Mix water, sugar and yeast together in a small bowl or measuring cup. Let stand to get frothy.
Place flours and salt into your food processor with the kneading blade attached (you can use the regular blade, but it may chop up the grains in your specialty flour).
Add olive oil to yeast mixture and stir well. Turn on food processor to low speed and pour yeast through the feeding tube - let run for about 5 seconds then switch off. Now, using the pulse feature, pulse in 2 second bursts for about 20 or 25 times (until you see a shaggy ball forming).
Lightly flour a board, then dump the dough out of the workbowl onto the board. Gather into a ball and knead lightly for 2 - 3 minutes - until dough ball is smooth (it should not be sticky).
Using remaining olive oil, grease a metal or plastic bowl. Place dough into bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and place in a warm but draft-free location for 60-90 minutes to rise. (I used the microwave that is my range hood - turning on the light which keeps it warm inside).
Punch down dough and you can do several things with it - 2 - 12" pizzas, 1 large rectangular pizza (1/2 a sheet pan), breadsticks, etc. It's a fairly versatile dough. If you can, use a stone to cook the dough. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
I rolled the dough out into a 1/2 sheet pan - then spread with margarine. Then I sprinkled with granulated garlic. Lastly, I spread the shredded cheese all over and topped with the parmesan.
Bake in preheated oven for 12 - 18 minutes (it will depend on your toppings - mine took about 12 minutes or so).
This one got rave reviews from the DH.
This can also be mixed/kneaded in a stand mixer using a dough hook.
|
