JC's Village

A few times a year JC’s weekly dinner has my homemade pizza on the menu. If you’re into making a very hearty homemade pizza that’s about as healthy as a pizza can be - here’s how we do it!

To start off - I use this bread recipe for everything - loaves of bread, pizza crust, and buns - it’s really forgiving and easy to use.

Of course - if you know me then you know that’s just where I start and I’m notorious for making food without a recipe or barely following a recipe. So - the link above is where I start - and the info below is what actually happens.

Above are all the ingredients and equipment I use. The recipe is pretty specific about the steps and I do more or less follow it in that regard.

First I mix 4 tablespoons of yeast with 2/3 - 3/4 cup (eyeballed) hot water from the tap in the small (16 oz) metal bowl. I buy yeast in bulk not packets. I use 4 tablespoons when I make dough that’s a 50/50 blend of whole wheat flour and white flour. Swish the yeast and water around a few times (I don’t stir it with a spoon - too much yeast ends up stuck there) until most of the yeast granules are mixed in the water. Then set the bowl on the stove top in front of the oven vent and preheat the oven to 170 so the dough has a nice spot to rise. The mixed yeast and water should look something like this.

Then I warm the big metal bowl with hot water from the tap and then put two cups (measured out) of hot water into the bowl. Then I measure out a tablespoon of sea salt and 4 tablespoons of granulated white sugar. Again - I use 4 tablespoons not three as the recipe directs when making dough with 50/50 whole wheat and white flour. Here’s a picture of my salt and sugar in the water before I mix it all together.

Add 4 cups of white flour to the salt n’ sugar water and mix it all up. Then add oil - again - I never measure the oil - I just give it a glug. I’m pretty sure the final amount ends up being closer to 2/3 to 3/4 cups too. Add 3 cups of whole wheat flour and the yeast and mix it all up. Initially - the dough will look like you’re trying to make “marble rye” - but keep mixing it till it’s all mixed together.

Up until this point all I mix everything together with is the tablespoon I measured out the yeast, salt and sugar with. But from this point on the spoon isn’t all that helpful. So - use another 1 cup (but add it in a bit at a time as you are sure you need it) of whole wheat flour to get the dough to the right consistency.

Consistency is key - the dough should be sticky - but not soooo sticky that you can’t lift it. The quantities of flours are less important than the consistency - so I don’t sweat it too much. If you need to add a bit more - cool. If you don’t need it all - cool. No biggie.

Here’s a short clip of my dough’s consistency.

Once your dough is thoroughly mixed and the right consistency - pop it into the oven for about 40-45 minutes to let it double. If it doubles sooner - then that’s fine too.

While it’s rising, get your pizza toppings ready. Here’s what’s going onto this pizza - lots of veggies. I’ve also used pepperoni, sausage, artichoke hearts, capers, zucchini and summer squash, raisins, and of course pineapple. It takes a while to chop everything up if you’re using lots of fresh veggies - but it’s soooo worth it.

Once the dough has doubled (like the above dough) - pull it out and split it up into 4 roughly equal lumps (oh yeah - by the way - this dough recipe makes 4 pizza crusts, or 2 loaves of bread, or about 18-20 buns). Once the dough’s out of the oven - go ahead and turn the oven temp up to 350. Anyhoo - split your dough up, oil-up or spray with cooking oil 4 pizza pans. and press a dough lump into each one.

If you want a fluffier crust - let the dough in the pan rise again - another 20-30 minutes should be plenty. It’s not necessary to put it back in the oven - it’ll want to rise just out in the kitchen on the counter or on the table - just not outside in winter. (LOL). If you want a crispier, firmer (aka: sturdier) crust - then go ahead and bake it once it’s pressed into the pans. I bake it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. It should come out golden brown. It usually takes me most of the time the first two crusts are baking to finish all my chopping and cleaning up.

At that point - go ahead and start “decorating” your pizza. I like to spread a couple tablespoons of pesto on the crust first (if you want to use pesto - let your crusts cool just a bit first - otherwise the hot crust soaks it up and you don’t taste it as much), then pizza sauce, fresh spinach, fresh mushrooms, onions, garlic, pepperoncinis, bell-peppers, olives, and whatever else sounds good at the moment - kind of a veggie supreme. I like a blend of cheeses too - as you can see from the toppings picture above - and find it easiest to put all the cheese blends into a bowl and mix them together - makes it much more efficient to get all the cheeses evenly on all the pizzas.

Once everything’s on your first two pizzas the way you like - pop them back in the oven for 25 minutes at 350 again or until the cheese starts to brown. If I time it right - while the second two crusts are baking - I’ll have my first two pizzas all topped and ready to bake - and while the first pizzas are baking I can top the other two crusts, clean up, and get the dishes washed up.

If you have leftover pizza - it freezes just fine once cooled and reheats beautifully in the oven if you’re reheating enough for the family or in the toaster oven for a single serving. You can nuke it - but it’s not crispy anymore at that point.

That’s it! Enjoy!