It’s Not Delivery, It’s Homemade (Pizza!)

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

I’m having an affair with my bread machine. After mutliple breadmaking disasters, I  banished the machine to the basement where it has been collecting dust for years. Recently I had an urge to give it a try again and after doing a little research, finally turned out a successful loaf! What ended up being the secret? NOT following the manufacturers instructions. I now add the yeast to the water instead of putting it in the machine last.Three loaves later, I was compelled to kick it up a notch and try making my own pizza dough.

The important thing to keep in mind when making your own pizza dough is to allow enough time. While a bread machine will do all of the work for you, it still takes a long time. For example, the “dough setting” on my machine takes 1 hour and 40 minutes to complete, that’s not a last-minute dinner idea or you’ll be waiting for a long time to eat. Get that dough started at a reasonable hour and then go about your business! I used All Recipe’s very highly rated Bread Machine Pizza Dough recipe that is made using flat beer and it came out amazing:

Here’s their recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup flat beer (I used Fulton’s Sweet Child of Vine)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put beer, butter, sugar, salt, flour, and yeast in a bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough setting, and press Start.
2. Remove dough from bread machine when cycle is complete. Roll or press dough to cover a prepared pizza pan. Brush lightly with olive oil. Cover and let stand 15 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Spread sauce and toppings on top of dough. Bake until crust is lightly brown and crispy on the outside, about 24 minutes.

For the sauce, I combined diced tomatoes with the last of my slow roasted garden tomatoes in the freezer and topped it with freshly grated mozzarella cheese. Served with a simple salad on the side with a homemade vinaigrette, we declared it a culinary masterpiece: