Pizza night

On an idle Friday night, I decided to revisit a pizza recipe that we tried last week but forget to blog about.

It is by far the easiest pizza dough I have worked with. Most of the kneading was done by my trustworthy KitchenAid Mixer until the dough had come together. Only then I took the dough out for the final kneading. The process is a real bliss with no wet dough sticking all over my fingers.

A perfect way to welcome the weekend, and a series of activities that waiting to be unfolded. Because the dough is enough to make 2 pizzas, I made one Hawaiian style, which is how OCT liked his pizza, and one with whatever that strikes my fancy. In this case, I brushed my pizza with a layer of pesto, dotted it with some marinated artichoke, cracked an egg on top of the pizza and topped it all with some shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese .

The crust was thin and crispy, which we like better than the thick, bread-like version.

That was the best way to end the week, in my opinion. But it wasn't the case for OCT, who was nursing a mouth ulcer. I have totally forgotten about it. Or I would have cooked something else for him. In the end, he cooked and ate instant noodle for dinner. Ouch...

Pizza Dough
adapted from Bon Appétit, March 2007, recipe of Giada DeLaurentiis

3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in processor.(I used the mixer with paddle attachment) Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball.

Transfer to lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Punch down dough.
DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Roll out dough according to recipe instructions. (Start in center of dough, working outward toward edges but not rolling over them.)

Bake with selected toppings at 425F.