Friday Night, Pizza Night

Wow, I am on a blogroll today (two in a row). I meant to blog about this last week but just never found the time.  Perhaps I was secretly hoping that Trevor would take the lead on this one, as it was his idea.

It all started last Friday when I asked Trevor if he wanted to go out for dinner (I always want to go out for dinner on Fridays). He suggested that we make pizza instead, to which I replied, "Do you know how long it takes to make pizza dough??!!" He said that there might be a breadmaker recipe that would simplify the process.

Good ol' google (what ever did we do without google?).  I didn't find a breadmaker recipe that took less than four hours, but I did find recipe that doesn't require yeast (cutting out the three hours or so it takes yeast to do its 'thing').  In total it took less than an hour from recipe search to in the tummy yummy goodness.

Quick and Easy Pizza

We used the Quick and Easy Crust last week and the Breadmaker Crust this week (makes 1 pizza):

Preheat oven to 425 F

Quick and Easy Crust
2 cups flour ( I used a mixture all purpose and whole wheat)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil

Breadmaker Crust
3/4 cup warm water
3 teaspoons skim milk powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons yeast
pinch of salt

Toppings
Pizza sauce (I mixed a little wine - just enough to get the right consistency - with tomato paste and some Italian spices)
Grated cheese (I think we used Havarti as it was all we had)
Mixed vegetables (we used onions, mushrooms, green pepper, and zucchini)
Sandwich meat

Directions
If you have a breadmaker, put all the ingredients into the pan and set to pizza dough (I assume, Trevor did it so I can't say for sure). The dough takes about 3 hours in the breadmaker.  The dough can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.  Follow the steps for rolling and topping pizza below (or use your own tried and true method).

If you choose to top your pizza with fried veggies, chop them into whatever shape you like (I dice them really small so that Eli doesn't notice). Fry on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add some spices like taco seasoning or chili powder to give them a little extra flavour.

While the veggies are cooking, mix first four quick and easy crust ingredients into a dough.  Roll the dough into whatever shape you want (we have a rectangular stone plate). Place the pizza dough onto the pan and spread as much olive oil as you feel comfortable consuming (I used the full 1/4 cup). The oil keeps the sauce from making the crust soggy.

Next spread the pizza sauce over the pizza. If you want to make an authentic Italian pizza (correct me if I am wrong), put the cheese on after the sauce - before adding the other toppings. Then top your pizza with whatever else you decide. We did half vegetarian and half veggie/ham.

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.  While you are waiting for the pizza to cook, count how much money you saved and how much waste you reduced by making your own pizza instead of ordering out.  Let the pizza stand for a few minutes when the crust is golden, and enjoy.