I was probably about six the first time I can remember my mom baking her own pizza dough. After that, it became a family tradition: Friday nights were pizza nights, and her homemade dough, stretched to the corners of a cookie sheet, formed the basis of creations the family sometimes helped to make.
This week, my sister came to stay with me and treated my husband and me to her own homemade twist on my family’s pizza tradition.
She made us Thai Pizza with Sweet Chili Sauce. One bite, and I decided that this will be showing up in our dinner rotations. It blends sweet, sour and spicy flavors and features peanuts, red bell peppers, green onions and fresh basil, merging all the flavors I love from Thai cuisine with the comforting taste of fresh homemade pizza. Try it out, and stop by Wolff’s this weekend to get red bell peppers on special!
Here is a dough recipe that works well for either pizza dough or a delicious loaf of bread, and produces consistent results:
PrintPizza Dough
- Category: Main Dish
Ingredients
- 1 package yeast (2 tsp)
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 6–7 cups flour
Instructions
- Measure 1/4 cup warm water into glass measuring cup and sprinkle the yeast on, together with a little sugar. Put it in a warm place to proof. Meanwhile, dump the other ingredients, except the water and about 2 cups of flour, into the processor or mixing bowl and mix well. Add the yeast mixture and the water and mix well. Add enough of the rest of the flour and process until the dough is soft and elastic and you are able to handle it and it has a little bounce to it. Plop it into a well-oiled bowl, cover it, and put it in a warm place to rise.
- When risen to double (about 1 hour), punch the dough down. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and separate them into two round loaves. These should rise for about 45 minutes, until they have doubled again. Form pizza crust on a cookie sheet or pizza stone, top with ingredients, and cook for 10-15 minutes at 450. (If you make this into bread instead, bake it for 30 min. at 400 degrees).