Snowy Afternoon Pizza

A quick look at my "About Me" will tell you I don't have any snowy afternoons to worry about.  The title sounded better than "My husband is out of work and I want the kids to have some fun food".  Seriously, my husband was out of work for a year so our family went on a major austerity program.  Generally we would get carryout dinner every Saturday.  My husband is working again, thank God, but carryout dinners are still rare.

So, the reason I called this "Snowy Afternoon Pizza" is because I start it at about 3:30 or
4 p.m. for a 5:30-6p.m. meal time.

Now for the star of the show:

Pizza Dough
(makes one thick crust or two thin crusts)

1 1/4 hrs / 45 min. prep / Serves 8-12

2 1/4 teas. fast rising yeast

1 teas. brown

1 teas. salt

2 T. olive oil

1 1/2 teas. italian seasoning

1 1/2 c. warm water

3 1/2 c. flour

1.  In large bowl, dissolve yeast and brown sugar in the water.  (Water temp. should be 105^o  - 115^o F.)

2.  Let sit for 10 minutes

3.  Stir salt, oil and italian seasoning into the yeast mixture.

4.  Mix in 2 1/2 c. of the flour (I add the entire 3 1/2 c. here.)

5.  Turn dough out onto a clean, dry surface and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky.

6.  Place the dough into a well oiled bowl and cover with a cloth.

7.  Let the dough double in size.  (This should take 1/2 hour if in a warm spot.)

8.Punch down and lest rest a minute

9.  Roll out and prepare your favorite pizza.

I use cookie sheets sprinkled with corn meal.  After I shape the dough on the pans, I place in the oven for between 5 - 10 minutes before I put the toppings on.

Bake in preheated 425^oF oven until the cheese and crust are golden brown 15-20 minutes.

I never have italian seasoning, so I omit that.  What I do for the sauce is use 8 oz. of organic tomato sauce (for some reason I think it makes a difference), then with a light hand I sprinkle some garlic powder and oregano on the sauce.  Then I top with the meat, vegetable layer and the cheese last.  Yeast note:  You can use one packet I got tired of keeping track of them so I keep a jar on hand and measure it.  If you are looking for a warm spot to let your dough rise, turn your oven on to its lowest setting.  Then TURN IT OFF, place you dough in the warm oven.

(Recipe courtesy of recipezaar.com, Recipe #43740.)

You can toss this dough if you like (I'd suggest looking up a youtube video).  We tried once with friends.  We weren't very successful, but we had a lot of laughs!  Sorry I didn't get a picture of a slice on a plate with yummy strings of cheese.  Sometimes the natives get restless for dinner - I think I'm the "chief" native...

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