Pizza dough

JodieDownUnder
JodieDownUnder Posts: 1,483 admin
edited November 2020 in Baking

Everyone loves pizza right! So versatile, great way to use up produce from the garden or clean out the fridge and you can be as imaginative as you like. Got a favorite pizza dough recipe? This is mine.

2 teaspoons dry yeast, 2 tablespoons honey, 1cup warm water, 21/2 to 3 cups plain flour, 2 tablespoons olive oil and a good pinch salt.

Combine yeast, honey and warm water. Leave for couple mins let it get frothy. Then add flour, leave say 1/2 cup flour until the mix comes together, then add if necessary. Then add oil and salt. Should come together in a big mass. Flour work space, give it a quick knead. Roll out into sausage, cut into 4/5 sections. You can freeze what you don't use. If you let this mixture sit in a warm spot for 30 mins or so, then cut in 1/2 you have 2 foccacias ready to bake. Just knead, shape and sprinkle herbs and salt or olives etc. A great easy, quick versatile recipe.

Comments

  • RICHARD
    RICHARD Posts: 22 ✭✭✭

    I am gluten intolerant, but love pizza. What's a guy gonna do? Cauliflower crust is simple to make. It does take a bit of time, but is worth it for the sheer enjoyment of being able to feast on one of my favorite foods. The recipe?

    1 head of cauliflower

    1 half cup of grated Parmesan cheese

    1 egg or substitute 2 Tbsp of flax meal with one Tbsp

    To make the crust, cut the florets from the stalk, grate (or use a food processor) to make rice grain size bits. In a dry cast iron skillet over medium high heat, dehydrate the cauliflower by stirring rapidly in the skillet and watching the moisture steam out of the cauliflower grains. The volume will reduce by half or more. The color may also change if not stirred constantly. Once the moisture has been reduced, allow the cauliflower to cool and keep stirring to reduce the moisture even more. Once cooled, then add the grated Parmesan cheese and mix thoroughly, Add the egg and blend. the mixture should hold together in a solid mass. Use parchment paper to prevent the crust from sticking to the pan or stone, cover with plastic wrap and roll out into a 1/8" thick crust. remove the plastic wrap, and bake for 7-10 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Once the crust has browned, remove from the oven and top with your favorite pizza ingredients. Return to the oven and bake until ready to eat, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from oven, slice, and enjoy.

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2019

    Another pizza lover here. - Now if only we could get them to grow on a TREE. LOL

    What about the increasing folk who can't (or definitely should NOT) have Dairy, Sugar, Gluten, Yeast, most meats, etc etc.

    We don't wanna deny those people a slice or 1/2 pizza, do we?

  • Foodgardenguy
    Foodgardenguy Posts: 106 ✭✭✭

    I heard sourdough breads are much more tolerable for those with digestive issues. Has anybody here have a really good pizza sourdough recipe?

  • Alison
    Alison Posts: 179 ✭✭✭

    I am more of a throw things together kind of gal. If I look at a recipe it's a 'guide'. Sadly it doesn't help others.

    I have heard that it is good to soak flour for 24hrs as it helps the gluten to begin to be digested. I anticipate that flour could be soaked for 24hrs then a batch of sourdough or artisan dough [just search for no knead artisan bread on youtube] could be started. That would give a 48hr process whereby the gluten would be well on it's way to being broken down.

    The cauliflower option by Richard sounds yummy also. I wonder if it could be made in advance and frozen?

    Another option is possibly einkorn flour. It is said to be an ancient grain that is well tolerated by those who are gluten intolerant.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    I make whole grain sourdough pizza crust- I will try to explain how I make it. I'm afraid the following will not be very precise; feel free to ask questions.

    You need to start with really fresh starter, which just means that you've have fed it three times in the last two days. Explained more thoroughly here. https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/sourdough/how-to-make-fresh-sourdough-starter/

    If you have not had good success with your sourdough bread rising in the past, you may not have fed it enough/recently. I actually disposed of a starter(ten years old!) that was probably perfectly good, because it was inconsistent in raising bread. I also used it cold from the refrigerator when I hadn't fed it lately. (I actually still feel kind of bad about that. I need to stop personifying my cultures. Naming them probably doesn't help.)

    My recipe is a modification of the basic bread recipe from Cultures for Health. I use their whole wheat sourdough starter. So if it looks like I partly copy-and-pasted the following, I did.

    Instructions:

    1. Mix sourdough starter, flour, and salt together. Use enough water to make bread dough. (A moist dough is preferable to a dry dough.) Knead a few minutes(2-5?) I used to do the whole "windowpane test" thing but found it unnecessary. The starter itself makes up a good chunk of the dough, and it has been "rising" for a while and softening the gluten, so an excessive kneading isn't necessarily helpful. Now, from here you can take it two ways. Version A: I use to let it rise 7-12 hours, at which point the gluten is very softened.(But still present! Wheat based sourdough might be gluten-lite, but it is not gluten-free.) The dough is rather sticky, slack, and hard to work with at this point. Make personal sized crust, flour your board well, and roll them very thin. Par-bake at 450-500 degrees; that should take maybe two minutes. Then you can freeze the crust for later, or put on toppings and bake around 500 degrees until the cheese browns(five minutes). When the crust is only partly done it will taste very sour, but once it is crisp it gets a really pleasing nutty/cheesy savoriness. Please note that I have not done version A for several years, but I have a pretty good memory when it comes to food.
    2. Version B is the easier way I now do it. It is a much shorter rise, so not as much gluten is broken down; this is not a problem for me but it might be if you are focusing on breaking down gluten or phytates. When you mix the dough, use only 2 tsp. of salt. Add fat- butter, olive oil, lard, take you pick. No, I don't know how much I add- 2-4 tablespoons? You want a fairly soft, wet dough, so don't add too much flour. Just grease your hands, knead for two or free minutes, oil it well, and let rise in the bowl for 2 hours. Grease some cookie sheets very well, heat the oven to 475. Grease your hands, put blob the size of two fist on the cookie sheet, and pat it until is spread thin( 1/4-1/2 inch I think?). You may need to add more dough. Parbake five minutes. Cool and freeze or top and bake at 500 for 5-7 minutes until the cheese is bubbly. Also good just as an oil and herb topped flat bread. The fat in the recipe helps it to be tender and crisp without rolling it super thin or letting rise long.


    If you want a really easy low-carb and gluten free, try this one. Nothing like a sourdough crust, but it's pretty good for the amount of effort. I made this a lot when I was on keto.

    hope this helps,

    Mary

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Forgot to add: What about a pizza-crust made from Amaranth, &/or Quinoa & such ?

  • Foodgardenguy
    Foodgardenguy Posts: 106 ✭✭✭

    Hi @blevinandwomba , Wow. Thank you very much for sharing your sourdough pizza recipe. I really appreciate this. I posted a question in the other thread for you and did not see your reply here. So'll I'll come here from now on.

    I'll definitely give your instructions a shot.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    As for gluten-free crust, besides the psyllium crust I posted a link to above, I've tried this one.

    pretty good, overall. It does call for xanthum gum. I'm am going to experiment with an oat crust soon, and will report back.

    As for cheese alternatives, in my area there are lots of choices at the grocery store, but most are full of fake ingredients, and are very expensive. I have found some soft, cultured, nut based cheeses that are all-natural and taste terrific, but again, expensive. I tried thinning down nut cheese into a sauce and then drizzling on the pizza after I bake it; that was good. I have made some homemade cultured nut/seed cheeses, and while they are pretty tasty, none of them tasted like something I would put on a pizza.

    I have made this and liked it. It's a mozzarella type. https://thecuriouscoconut.com/blog/best-dairy-free-paleo-aip-cheese-nut-free-vegan-option-tapioca-cheese

    I haven't made it, but back when I was on the AIP diet I heard a lot about zucchini cheese, which is vegetable and gelatin based. You can't bake it but some put it on pizza after it's baked.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    So, I finally got around to making an oat crust. I found some recipes that looked simple, but I really wanted a sourdough crust, both for taste and nutrition/digestibility. This was my base recipe.

    Note that what I did was not actually gluten-free. I am avoiding wheat but have decided to introduce barley and rye, in small amounts. So far, so good.

    So, for the actual recipe.

    4 tbs rye sourdough starter( I had thought about making a separate oat starter, but that would take a while and I don't think rye is a problem for me)

    1 c. lukewarm water

    Mix well together. Stir in

    2 c. oat flour

    Cover and let sit 24 hours at room temperature. If it was warm I would have done a much shorter rise, or less starter, or cold water/flour.

    Stir in

    2 Tbs. olive oil( other fat would work, I'm sure)

    2 tsp. honey

    Whisk together

    1 c. oat flour

    1 tsp. salt

    1/2 tsp. baking powder( might not be necessary. Insurance since sourdough and low-gluten flours can be tricky)

    Stir flour mixture in dough until completely incorporated. Cover and let rise two hours. Heat oven to 400 F. Grease large baking sheet( or you could probably divide between two small ones.) Mine is enamelware and fairly nonstick, but use might want to use parchment or a lot of grease if your pan isn't. Press dough evenly into pan. Bake for 15 minutes, and enjoy.

    I was quite pleased with the sourdough flavor this time. The first time I made it I used a little less starter and used cold water- also the weather was a little chillier. That batch was very tasty, but with no detectable sourdough taste.

    One of these times I'll get brave and leave out the baking powder. I also want to experiment with adding some other flours, like buckwheat.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Oh, and a couple of things I forgot(perils of typing at night... and with a cat on your lap who won't let you get up to verify information.) My large baking sheet is about 10" x 15", and I press the dough to completely fill it- if your sheet is smaller your crust will be thicker and may take longer to bake or bake less evenly.

    Also, I have been mainly using this as a flatbread. 15 minutes is almost overdone, if you are planning on topping and baking as pizza. I did make some mini-pizzas with some of the leftover crust, and loved the taste and texture, but the crust was almost burnt by the time the cheese was melted. I would do a shorter pre-bake if I intended to make the whole things as pizza. In other words, probably bake 5-10 minutes, add toppings, and then bake until cheese is bubbly.

  • Jannajo
    Jannajo Posts: 173 ✭✭✭

    Well, I am not completely organized to eat for HEALTH, but CHeese is definitely and finally OUT, as in NO CHEESE, i KNOW IT HURTS, BUT ACTUALLY IT IS VERY EASY TO JUST FORGET ABT IT, FULL OF FAT, PUS, AND SALT, NOT HEALTHY, not a bit, but then I use nutritional yeast, potato, carrot for look-alikes, that taste alike also.T.Colin Campbell grew up on a dairy farm, Dr. Esselstyne also, Dr. Klaper and Dr. Barnard, these explain beautifully the pitfalls of dairy...any farmer I know can no longer drink milk anyway.

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My husband and I are currently doing a low carb diet. I came across this recipe and we love it.

    Pepperoni Fathead Pizza

    Yield: 1 12-inch pizza Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes

    Low carb pizza crust made with cheese and almond flour! Top it off with all your favorite pizza toppings.

    Ingredients

    • 3 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
    • 2 tablespoons cream cheese
    • 1 egg
    • ¾ cup almond flour
    • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
    • 1/3 cup Rao’s Marinara (or other low carb sauce)
    • 1/4 cup sliced pepperoni

    Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
    2. Add 2 cups of mozzarella and cream cheese to a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir to combine and return to microwave until cheese has melted, about 30 more seconds.
    3. Stir in the almond flour, egg, and Italian seasoning to combine.
    4. Place the dough on a large sheet of parchment paper. Top with a second sheet of parchment.
    5. Roll the dough out into a 12 inch diameter circle.
    6. Remove the top piece of parchment and transfer the bottom sheet with the dough on it to a pizza pan.
    7. Bake for 10 minutes or until crust is lightly golden.
    8. For an extra sturdy crust that holds up well, carefully flip the crust over and bake for 3 more minutes.
    9. Remove crust from the oven. Spread the marinara over the pizza crust and sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/2 cups mozzarella. Arrange pepperoni evenly over the top.
    10. Bake the pizza for another 10 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

    Notes

    Use whatever toppings you prefer!

    You may use whatever brand of marinara or pizza sauce you prefer, but I've based the nutrition info off of Rao's brand because it's what I use in my house.

    This is the site I found it on.

    https://thatlowcarblife.com/fathead-pizza/

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Oh, and the fat head dough is used for many other things as well. From cinnamon buns to pasta.