fat bottom fridays... perfecting homemade pizza

now i don't know about you guys, but fridays in my house is movie and pizza night... it's something that i think me and my boys look forward to... its a chance to start the weekday wind-down...

 

 being a New Yorker i was always spoiled by amazingly delicious pizza... every New Yorker says it's one thing that makes the pizza, the artisan breads and the bagels stand way above the rest... the water... it has some sort of magical bread making property :)

so whats a Mainer to do... i guess, try my hardest to make some really good homemade pizza-pies to fulfill those cravings...

 so... i have been working with different kind of dough: simple 5 minute doughs (blaahhhh, they are tough and dull)... and dough's that need to rise 24 hours (i'm too impatient)... and then there is the standard 2 hour yeast doughs, now these are more my speed...

here is the recipe i have been using lately, it's not perfect but it's pretty darn good and easy to make...

basic pizza dough (makes a single pizza)
prep: 10 minutes  rise: 2 hours
ingredients:
1 cup warm water (about 110)
2 1/4 tsp (or one package) of active dry yeast
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
*sometimes i add a little garlic powder, maybe a little dried oregano to the dough

directions:
1. place water in a bowl and add the yeast (let it bloom for 5 minutes)
2. in a large bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups of the flour, the salt, and the sugar... make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture and the olive oil... with the dough hook attachment stir the dough until it comes together, adding in as much of the remaining 1/4 cup of flour, until the dough forms a ball
3. place the dough in lightly oiled bowl (turning over so the dough is coated with olive oil), and cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until 2 hours
4. punch down the dough, place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out into desired diameter and begin to assemble your pizza

 one of the things i like to do, is right before i put the pizza in the oven, i brush the crust with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt and maybe a bit of grated parmesan cheese... this makes an amazing almost breadstick like crust... my boys love it...
speaking of my boys, they are strictly plain cheese pizza guys... but i love anything on pizza... fresh spinach, red wine sauteed mushrooms and onions, zucchini... lots of fresh mozzarella cheese... or creamy melty goat cheese... the sky is the limit... and the pizza dough is the canvas

here are some of my culinary masterpieces... enjoy :)

 

 

until next week...mangia! mangia!

 

and don't forget to check me out over at fat bottom for more deliciousness :)