Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza dough:
- 1 cup warm, but not hot, water (105-115 degrees F)
- 1½ tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 3 - 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp dried oregano
Toppings:
- Vegetables and/or meat, as desired
- Seasoning, as desired
- Shredded mozzarella or Swiss cheese, as desired
Instructions
To make the dough:
- In a large bowl, stir together the water, yeast, honey, and 1 Tbsp of the olive oil. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes until it is foamy.
- Stir in 1½ cups of the flour, mixing by hand until the flour is well incorporated into the liquid, with no lumps. Then continue to add flour, ¼ cup at a time, mixing well with each ¼ cup, until the dough is smooth but still somewhat sticky. You may not need all of the flour: You want to use enough flour so that the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl but doesn't pull away from the bottom of the bowl.
- After you have added enough flour, remove the dough from the bowl to a lightly floured surface. Knead by hand for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth but still slightly tacky, sprinkling more flour on the dough as needed so you can handle it.
- Clean your mixing bowl and oil it with the remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil. Place the kneaded dough into the bowl, turning it to lightly coat it all over with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it set in a warm place (free from drafts) until the dough is doubled in size, about 1 hour to 1½ hour, depending on the temperature of the room.
- After the dough has risen, use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 2, 3, or 4 balls, depending on how large you want your pizza to be.
- (If you don't want to cook one or more of the pizzas immediately, you can lightly oil each dough ball and store it in a zip-lock bag, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you freeze the dough, let it thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before you plan to cook it.)
To prepare the toppings:
- Note: you only want to lightly cover your pizza dough with toppings. Too many toppings will cause a soggy crust.
- Lightly sauté any of the following vegetables in olive oil: sliced bell pepper, sliced onions, minced garlic, mushrooms, and/or broccoli.
- If you want meat on your pizza, cook chopped chicken, unsalted ground beef or no-salt Italian sausage until meat is cooked through with no pink remaining. (For no-salt sausage, see recipe on the Low Sodium Pork Recipes page.).
To cook the pizza:
- Lightly oil your hands and rub them over the dough ball. Then place the dough ball on a lightly floured surface and sprinkle it with flour. With flour on your hands or a rolling pin, gently press or roll the dough flat. (If the dough is too elastic and won't stay rolled out, put the dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to relax it. Then roll it out.) Sprinkle with flour and lightly oil it.
- (If the dough has been refrigerated, cover it loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for 2 hours before cooking.)
- Lightly oil a pizza pan, or large baking pan, or a piece of parchment paper on a large pan. Lay the crust on top, and brush it lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle the pre-cooked vegetables and/or meat.
- Then sprinkle with your choice: Italian Seasoning, Barbecue Sauce, or other mixed chopped herbs or dried seasoning as desired (for example: you might use parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, cilantro, and/or chives.)
- If desired, top with fresh baby spinach leaves and/or small chunks of diced tomato.
- If desired, top with shredded or sliced mozzarella or Swiss cheese.
- Bake one pizza at a time, 10-12 minutes on the bottom rack.
