Monday, May 17, 2010

Day 33 - Pizza again, but this time with homemade crust

So last time I posted about Pizza, I also put a link to the blog on reddit.  The people on reddit are a little more brazen than those that comment on my blog and I got this one comment that sort of stung:


premade crust? nasty  
-mcinvale

Well, mcinvale, our pizza was fine, but I did some research and I decided I need not be intimidated by homemade crust.  I found it's actually rather basic.  My mom actually gave me her recipe (and encouraging words) which we basically followed (but I adjusted for package size yeast I had around).

Here it is: 
3 cups flour
1pkg yeast (.25 ounce)
1 teaspoon salt 2 olive oil
1 tbs sugar
1 cup warm water 110 F
(warm water from the tap is about right)

Combine the warm water and yeast in a dish, and let fizz for a bit.


Then combine this with all the dry ingredients mix around with a dough hook if you have one... or a knife like I did.  Eventually use your hand to much it around really well.  Finally add the oil. 2tbs is enough, but you can add a little more.

Let it sit for about 1 hour or 2 until it gets puffy.


Start spreading it out with your finger onto a baking stone (or pan) that has a thin layer of olive oil on it.

That looks good


Then coat with garlic and olive oil

Toast in the oven for about 5 mins @ 375 F

I thought it looked pretty good! take that Mcinvale!

Okay now all add the other good stuff
Sauce - (notice we are using pasta sauce instead of pizza sauce - it was good, but a little watery)

Toppings - I like mine under the cheese 
(Huzbun likes them on top - and I'm pretty sure there's a sexual innuendo in that - but I won't go there )  


Oh and look - a finished product!
10 - 15 mins @ 375 F

Did homemade crust make a difference?

Cost of Pillsbury Dough $2.85

Cost of Homemade Dough
3 cups flour $0.34

1 pkg yeast (.25 ounce) $0.45 (guesstimating a lot here... would probably be cheaper if bought in bulk)
1 teaspoon salt $0.01 (actually slightly less, but who counts less than a penny)
Olive oil  $0.14
Water $0.01 (again probably less)
Sugar $0.02 (again actually less closer to 1 and half cents)
Total $0.97

Well - it did cost a lot less (whoo hoo), but how did it taste?

It was much better tasting too.   I think I could of eaten just the dough.

6 comments:

  1. oooh- that looks great- I love the shape!

    ReplyDelete
  2. yummm.... i put a little olive oil in the dough too, but I love the idea of garlic and oil on the crust. Definitely trying that this week.

    As for the sauce - my mom's recipe for pizza sauce is super easy and cheap.
    1 can tomato sauce
    tbsp basil
    tbsp oregano
    (then i usually get creative and add a dash of this and a dab of that)
    tsp salt (less if it's a meat pizza, more if it's cheese)
    tsp pepper
    dash of garlic salt (or a clove or so of real garlic)
    diced onions (if you want them, my husband prefers if i leave this out)
    a bit of parmesan cheese (again optional)

    Your pizza crust came out way prettier than mine - but i usually rush the rising. apparently i need to wait for prettier pizzas. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh, one more comment - if you buy one of those jars of yeast (highly recommend for cost) - you have to take it out of the fridge and let it return to room temp before adding to the water, otherwise it's the same effect as too hot water and the yeast will not rise. Took me quite a few pizzas to realize that. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey, what success, and on your first homemade try too. Glad you tried the recipe!
    I'm glad Matthew is enjoying the kitchen scene too. Team work!
    Yes, homemade cooking saves a bundle, and is so much better for you too. I agree with other comment about homemade pizza sauce with spices. You can buy it in 8 oz. can very reasonably.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Agreed that you can make pizza sauce from tomato sauce, in fact that is what we did last time. However, I figured since we had Pasta Sauce on hand we would use that instead. It tasted okay, but the tomato sauce version was better.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That Pizza looks divine!! I really like to make my own crusts; similar recipe though I use a Calphalon pan rather than a pizza stone.

    Maybe I should get a pizza stone...

    Try replacing about 1/2 cup of the white flour with whole wheat flour. Makes a really good flavored and well bodied crust.

    ReplyDelete

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