Fall is my favorite time of year for a pizza party. It’s the coziest dinner for a family to make together on a cool Sunday evening. As an added bonus, when the ingredients are all lined up in pretty bowls, my kids are more likely to venture outside of their pizza comfort zone of sauce, cheese, and garlic. Last night, both Clare and Quinn discovered that they like mushrooms on pizza. I discovered that if I cover my pizza in arugula, it’s actually a salad!
Just kidding.
One key to a perfect pizza night is a no-fail pizza dough recipe. Where I grew up in Rhode Island, you can grab amazing pizza dough at every grocery store. There was little reason to make it from scratch. Here in Texas it’s harder to find so I make it at home with my no-nonsense, no-fail pizza dough recipe. Here it is…Ingredients:
1.5 cups warm water
1.5 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons active dry yeast (about 1.5 envelopes)
4.5 cups flour
4.5 tablespoons olive oil
2.25 teaspoons salt
fine cornmeal or flour for dusting
Directions:
Mix water and sugar in bowl of stand mixer.
Sprinkle in yeast and stir to dissolve.
Let stand for 10 minutes. Mixture will bubble.
Add flour, 4.5 tablespoons olive oil, and salt.
With dough hook attachment, mix on slow/med speed until smooth, approx 3-4 minutes.
Roll dough into a ball.
Brush a large bowl with olive oil and transfer dough ball to bowl, turning to coat.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave dough to rise for one hour in a warm, draft free area, until approximately double in size.
Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal or flour.
Divide dough into 6 portions, rolling each into a ball. Place balls on baking sheet.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour before baking.
And don’t miss Jaime’s How to Grill Pizza (+ The Easiest Pizza Sauce Recipe)
Want to bring your pizza game to the next level? Here are my favorite tools for pizza prep.