Growing up I was the pickiest eater. My poor parents. One of the things I hated was pizza. This caused problems because what’s usually served at parties or other events? Yup, pizza. So for years I would eat something else before my mom sent me off to parties so I wouldn’t be hungry. I don’t remember exactly when I started liking pizza, but not until I was a teenager. Now I’ve been making up for all those years eating lots of pizza!
One of our favorite meals is homemade pizza. We usually do it on Friday nights and it’s a family event. Little Man’s favorite job is sprinkling the cheese. He still needs a little help spreading it out since he tends to sprinkle all in the same spot. We’ve tried lots of different combinations, but the kids favorite lately is ham and pineapple. We usually like sausage, mushroom and caramelized onions. There are so many different options that we don’t get bored having this weekly (some other ideas- BBQ chicken, chicken alfredo, pepperoni, Margherita etc.) We also have found we can continue having pizza during the summer time without heating up our kitchen by using our grill. Individual pizzas are easiest on the grill. Roll out like usual then brush with olive oil and cook on a preheated grill for 3-5 minutes. Flip over and cook for only one minute. On your more well-done side of the dough, add your toppings, then place back on the grill to cook for another 3-5 minutes and you will have the most delicious grilled pizza!
I have tried a couple of other pizza doughs, but I love this dough because it’s takes just a few minutes to mix and only needs 10-15 minutes to rise. Just enough time to get all the other toppings ready and preheat the oven.
Quick and Easy Pizza Dough
Ingredients
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 cups flour
- Mix the water, honey, oil, yeast and salt in a large bowl or stand mixer and gradually add the flour until a soft dough forms and pulls away from the bowl. The dough should be soft, a little sticky but smooth and not too stiff.*
- Knead the dough for 2 minutes. Remove & let rest for 15 minutes.
- Divide the dough into two and shape into two pizzas. Spread with sauce and toppings, and bake at 475 degrees for 8-10 minutes on a lightly greased pizza pan or one lined with parchment paper (what I like to do-easier clean up!)
*The more flour you add makes for a tougher dough. So you want to add only up to what makes the dough just pull off the sides. I learned in a class once to shake your flour in its container before you measure it so that it’s not so packed together and makes for more accurate measuring (besides weighing). There are a number of factors that will affect the dough consistency, so sometimes when I make the recipe I use closer to the 3 cups or sometimes I use only a little more that two. That’s why it’s very important to gradually add your flour.
Recipe Source- Mel’s Kitchen Cafe