Artisan Pizza Dough

I've posted a pizza recipe before but since then I've updated my recipe and thought I'd share it with you all.

I've ventured into the cheese making world and have had to find a lot of uses for the left over whey. Pizza dough is one of the best.

If you don't make cheese, you can actually buy whey. Water can also be substituted, but as a person who makes pizza dough on occasion I definitely noticed the difference. This dough recipe is very versatile. You can divide the dough and make two thin crust pizzas or follow my directions for a deep dish style crust.

Although neither the Giants or Broncos will be playing this year, the big game is next weekend and pizza is always a crowd pleaser.

You Need:
1 package instant dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2.5 cups all purpose flour plus extra for kneading
1 cup whey (or water)
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
sauce
cheese
Optional: Assorted spices and corn meal

I feel like all of my recipes start with "in a bowl" or "in a pot". Here is my go at being creative...

In your glass vessel, combine whey(or water) and yeast. Stir in honey.
While it activates start mixing the dry ingredients into another bowl of choice...

The yeast mixture should look cloudy and have little bubbles forming on top, pour this into your bowl of flour/salt.

Mix with a spatula until it all comes together into pasty clump

Then add in your olive oil, like so...

and knead with your hands...yes its sticky and messy...until it looks something like this.

Oil up a dish and set your dough to rest for about an hour, on top of your oven while it preheats to 450 degrees. Cover with moist cheese cloth or paper towel.

While your dough rises, you can get your other ingredients together, such as your sauce, cheeses and spices...

I always use a combination of mozzarella and parmesan but feel free to get creative here.

I did indeed make the sauce pictured from scratch, no I don't can my own sauces regularly. But when I have left overs I do store and freeze them for pizzas or quick dinners when I'm not in the mood to cook.

When your dough has doubled in size, flour your hands and knead your dough just until the stickiness goes away and the dough is easy to manipulate. At this point you can also take a pizza pan, or a stone and sprinkle with cornmeal. This gives the crust a really great texture.

I use a rolling pin...

Yes I am half Italian. But my name is not Luigi, I don't own a pizzeria so NO I do not know how to twirl dough...If you do...great. If not, here is how I got a pretty well shaped deep dish pie.

(at this point you could also separate the dough into two smaller pizza's for thin crust)

Put the dough right in the center of your pizza pan and start rolling toward the edges.

At this point you can use your thumbs and push the rest of the dough up and to the sides, thinning out that big middle and making a deep crust. Once the crust is formed, drizzle a bit of olive oil.

Use a pastry brush and spread the oil all around the dough and up the sides of the crust.

Here, I sprinkle some extra seasoning. I used parsley, oregano, rosemary and red pepper flakes.

One more shot of that, so gorgeous.

Pop the pizza dough in the 450 degree oven for 5 minutes to par- bake the crust. 7 minutes if you enjoy a well done slice.

Spread on your favorite sauce, we like A. Lot. Of. Sauce. Can you tell?

Then sprinkle on your cheese...Yep I made this cheese :)

I also sprinkled some parmesan and some more herbs.

Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes depending on how you enjoy your pie. We like it well done.

Let it cool down for just a minute or so and slice and enjoy. Happy Sunday everyone!