Simple recipe: bread machine pizza dough

-By Lisa

Do I really need to write a post? Or is this picture enough? Let’s just look at this loveliness a moment more, shall we? Sigh.

O.K. I should probably tell you about this delicious recipe.

This time of year is known for all-day-in-the-kitchen-multi-course meals. Fun, but exhausting. That's why I love this fast, easy but still slightly indulgent homemade pizza.

We all know that I am having a love affair with my $8 bread machine. This thing is so versatile and fun-- and I thought that before I discovered it could make pizza dough.

I love that this dough has a minimal amount of salt, sparing me the dehydrated pizza hangover I get from the delivery stuff. It is completely free from chemical garbage. Also, in choosing my toppings, I get to regulate the amount of cheese, therefore, the fat content. And it tastes amazing.

My favorite toppings are simple – pesto and mozzarella. (During the summer, a few slices of heirloom tomato from my CSA made it killer!) I wish I could tell you that the pesto was homemade from my herb garden, but it’s from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. Maybe next summer it’ll be homemade, but for now – I made dough so leave me alone.

This recipe makes enough for four 12- inch pizzas. One 12-inch pizza is dinner for Husband and I, so the other three dough balls get thrown in the freezer. I pull it out in the morning to defrost when we want pizza for dinner and the whole rolling out/topping/cooking process is FAST. Take that, Dominos.

The dough recipe is from my bread machine book, and the cooking directions are inspired by the ones in The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Perfect Pizza

Pizza Dough for four 12-inch pizzas

active dry yeast 2 tsp

bread flour 4 cups

salt 1-1/2 tsp

granulated sugar 3/4 tsp

olive oil 2-1/2 Tbs

water 1-1/4 cups

All ingredients should be at room temperature. Use the DOUGH settling, large size. Dough will be ready in about an hour and a half.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Cover dough with a clean cloth, and let dough rest for 10 minutes. Cut into quarters and roll into 4 smooth balls. Wrap three balls of dough in cellophane and freeze.

Cooking directions

Place over rack in the lower-middle position, place a pizza stone or inverted cookie sheet (if the sheet is inverted, it has no rim so the pizza can slide on easier) on the rack and heat oven to 500 degrees. Heat for 30 minutes.

On the floured countertop, shape the dough to a 12-inch round. Place on a piece of parchment paper. Place the parchment and the dough on to the pizza stone or the inverted cookie sheet. Poke a few holes in it. Cook for about 5 minutes. If it puffs up too much while it's cooking, poke more holes in it.

Take the dough out of the oven and top as you wish, leaving a ½ inch of dough uncovered. (A couple tablespoons of pesto and a handful of shredded mozzarella is my favorite) Brush the outer crust with olive oil.

Place the pizza back in the oven and cook for about another 5 minutes. Keep an eye on it! It cooks quickly.

Try to let it cool before you inhale it.

Enjoy!!

For more from Lisa, check out www.justherejustnow.com