If you love pizza and have tried different types of frozen pizzas, store-bought refrigerated pizza dough for homemade pizza, or even attempted biscuit dough pizza but was still disappointed, you must try this pizza dough recipe. Beginners, you cannot go wrong with it. I guarantee it will turn out perfect each time and taste absolutely delicious!
The ingredients list below is for 1 large pizza, but I usually double the amount so I can keep the remaining half of the dough in the fridge over night for a second large pizza for lunch.
Make sure to use bread flour and wheat flour for ultimate results; regular all-purpose flour will bake slightly faster and be more crunchy.
1. Freeze pizza crusts ahead in air tight bags plus foil wrap for up to a month for a large pizza party. Make sure to defrost fully on the counter and bring to room temp before baking
2. Do not toss expired yeast. You can still use it, just substitute milk for water
3. Serve hot straight out of the oven for the ultimate pizza experience
4. If you add toppings, place them on top of sauce and bake for 6 minutes before Step 12 (the broiling of cheese).
5. NEVER use bad cheese or sauce for pizza. If either have signs of mold or fermentation, throw them away. If you want to prevent cheese from forming mold, keep it in the freezer.
6. ALWAYS ask your family members if they like their pizza saucy, cheesy, thick crust or thin crust, etc. It is best to bake separate small pizzas for each person than dividing various topping amounts on a single pizza. For kids, I recommend traditional Ragu or Prego spagetti sauce in a jar (smooth, not chunky) instead of tomato sauce-paste mixture because of slightly higher sugar content.
1. Pizza is good for you - homemade pizza from scratch meets many daily nutrionion requirements: carbs for energy, whole wheat flour for fiber, cheese and meat toppings for protein (our body's bulding blocks for muscle, hair, skin, blood vessels, etc), fats, and calcium. Pizza helps maintain a healthy relationship between 2 hormones: leptin (that tells us we are full) and ghrelin (that tells us we are hugry)
2. Tomato paste in the sauce mix is rich in iron, magnesium, potassium, fiber, phosphorus, zinc, Vitamins C, A, B, K, E
3. Lycopene in tomatoes is easier to absorb by the body because it is cooked in the sauce
4. Pizza is good food, and is best if eaten for breakfast or lunch. Try to plan pizza on calorie burning days with high energy activities level: workout days, running or hiking weekends, working in the garden, moving into a new home or apartment, ice skating/roller blading fun with the kids afternoons, etc.
5. Pizza can be LOW CALORIE-LOW CARB FOOD: make your pizza with thin crust, with small amount of mozarella cheese and little sauce but lots of veggie toppings like mushrooms, olives, green pepper, fresh tomatoes, onions, fresh basil leaves, etc.
6. BENEFITS SUMMARY: Low sodium with high calcium, fat, protein, veggie pizzas with thin crusts are great for blood pressure management, weight loss (low calorie carb with satisfying feeling of fullness from fibre), and important nutrients like magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium and vitamin B6 (that help produce sleep hormones serotonin and melatonin). The iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc maintain stronger bones, healthy skin, and nervous system.
7. EAT BALANCED DIET Homebaked pizza can help you maintain healthy weight by carb cycling: pizza on high carb days can help avoid low carb eating habits that slow down metabolism by burning less calories in the long run. Lean body mass leads to muscle loss and "adaptive thermogenesis", process of making weight loss extremely difficult. To help digest pizza even faster, drink plenty water with lemon, green tea, black tea, or freshly squeezed orange juice, beet juice, etc.
Quick dinner idea: chili bread bowl with cheese
Potato wedges are so much healthier than french fries, so serve them with chicken nuggets, wings, fish fillets, but best of all with cheeseburgers.
Top classic recipes everyone should try.