Ryan'slunch:
chick'n
free
salad;
1/2 of
the
mini
choco-
late
bar I
made
last
night;
2 left-
over
slices
of
pizza;
cucu-
mber
slices;
carrot
sticks.
Even I sometimes buy frozen pizza, order take-away, or buy pre-made crust when I'm pressed for time. But usually I just whip up my own dough. I used to do it weekly as a nanny, so I should be able to handle it with my own 4 kids. The original recipe was one my father used from a Cuisinart cookbook. I've changed the amounts of 2 ingredients, and added other ingredients, so here it is:
Pizza Dough for Dummies
1 tsp. vegan sugar
2 tsp. yeast
1 1/4 cups warmish water
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. crumbled thyme leaves
1 T. olive oil
Place sugar and yeast in a measuring cup. Add water, stir briefly.
In a food processor, all flour, salt, garlic powder, basil & thyme. Turn on food processor and slowly add yeast water and olive oil. Ingredients should come together quickly to form a ball, usually in 5-10 seconds.
Flour a large bowl and dump dough into bowl. Cover with a towel. Wait at least 1/2 an hour.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Flour your work surface.
For 2 large pizzas, cut dough
in half. For 4 small pizzas
(what I usually make), cut
dough into quarters. Roll out
on floured surface. Place on
baking sheet. Bake crusts in
oven for about 10 minutes,
until stiff but not browned.
Remove from oven. Top with
your favourite pizza toppings.
Return to oven for another
10-12 minutes.
I never seem able to get a
photo of our pizzas before half
of them are whisked away and
gobbled up!
Variations include subbing 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper for the herbs for a spicy pizza, or 1/2 tsp. cumin and 1 tsp. cilantro for a curry pizza, or 1/2 tsp. chili powder and 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes and cocoa powder for a spicy Mexican pizza.
