cooking with love and laughter

I was reflecting on the name of our blog, and the laughter part. Through the years the laughter of family has been shared on many occasions family picnics, birthdays, holidays, reunions, weddings, and even funerals. Good food is a intricate part of life. It is icing on the cake if its good, you don't notice it as much, but if its bad, it can ruin an otherwise wonderful gathering. One of the foods I associate most with our family is pizza. I have vacillated from thick to thin crust over the years, but pizza has become a central food for some great family gatherings. Here is my basic thick and thin crust recipe for pizza.

Thick Crust Recipe

11/3 C warm water
3 T olive oil
3 C unbleached white flour
1/2 t salt
1 T sugar
1 T yeast
I mix this in the order given in a bread machine on dough setting. Allow the mix to blend until kind of stiff smooth dough forms. You can add flour in 1/8 cup measure until the dough is solid and not sticky.  Put in a room temperature bowl sprayed with olive oil non-stick spray and let raise slightly. The nice thing about this dough is that it does not require much time to raise before you can roll out. This makes a thick crust 16" crust.

Thin Crust Recipe

1 C warm water

2 T olive oil

21/2 C unbleached white flour

1 T sugar

1 T yeast

1/2 t salt

This crust is also mixed in the bread machine in the order given. Again it should be firm and smooth. It also does not need much time to raise, and can be used in 5 minutes after letting rest. This makes a 16" thin crust pizza.  

Roll out the dough in a circular shape working from center. When it is the size to fit the pan, lay on pan prepared with non stick olive oil spray,  Brush top of crust with olive oil before adding sauce and toppings. The oil creates a barrier so that the crust does not become soggy.