Pizza for a Crowd
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Food on Tuesday, May 05, 2009 1:00 PM
Pizza is popular, but it can be expensive, so I like to make it at home.
Sometimes I get fancy with a super-hot oven and a stone and gourmet toppings, but mostly I like to go the easy route.
My go-to pizza recipe is made in a baking sheet, and serves a [small] crowd - I made it last evening and five hungry adults and two children had plenty to eat, with two pieces left over.
The ratio of dough to sauce to cheese is the way I like it; you can adjust the quantities to your preferences. I hope you enjoy it!
Pizza!
recipe adapted from recipes in Cuisine at Home and Cook’s Country
Crust ingredients:
1½ cups warm water
2 Tbsp sugar
2¼ tsp (one package) active dry or instant yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour*
1 Tbsp salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
Other ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 15oz can prepared pizza sauce
3 cups (12oz) mozzarella cheese, shredded
toppings as desired
1. Combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit 5 minutes until foamy.
2. Mix flour and salt in mixing bowl. Add olive oil to the water-yeast mixture. Stir into dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.
3. Turn out dough onto floured surface and knead until smooth, 5-10 minutes.** Place in oiled bowl and turn to coat; cover with plastic wrap or kitchen towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
4. Punch down dough and stretch/spread with fingers to cover a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. Cover with plastic wrap or towel and let rise 30 minutes.
5. Place a flat baking stone or an inverted baking sheet on center rack in oven. Preheat oven to 425°F.
6. Brush dough with 1 Tbsp olive oil, then sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese. Bake until cheese just starts to melt, 5-7 minutes.
7. Spread pizza sauce on top of Parmesan. Top with mozzarella cheese and toppings. Bake until crust is golden and cheese fully melted and just starting to brown, about 15 minutes. Serve hot.
*It is fine to substitute all-purpose for bread flour; the dough will just be less chewy and crusty.
**The dough can also be made in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Print Blog
Email a FriendPost a Comment
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
