Sometimes You Just Need Love

It seemed like all the things that could sour my mood this week happened. It could have been a combination of the post-vacation blues. It could have been the fact that I felt like I’d gained about 10 pounds in Texas. It could have been the fact that I came home to Portland in the rain. All of those things in combination with some major disappointments and frustrations lead to my bad mood on Friday night.

That all faded away when I walked in the door from a really good swim to sweet words from Michael and a yummy dinner waiting for me, plus a nice Cabernet and the latest episodes of SNL. It’s been awhile since we had homemade pizza. Michael tried a NEW pizza dough and it was a success!

Did you see my post How to Rock Homemade Pizza? It’s a good beginner’s guide to making your own pizza. The last recipe we used was Homemade Pizza Dough. We used it for a long time, changed it a bit and tailored it to our liking. It was a decent recipe for awhile but the last few times we tried it it wasn’t working right. The dough was sticky and difficult to roll out. It didn’t hold the shape well. Michael was fed up with being frustrated with the dough. The other issue with the old recipe was that it made two servings. Which is good, right? We could freeze the other half of the dough for another time but EVERY time we tried to use that second dough it failed. It was too sticky, or it didn’t rise correctly. It was time to find something else.

New Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Stir water, sugar and yeast together until dissolved. Add the olive oil and the salt. Stir in the flour until well blended. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
2. Pat dough into pan or on to a pizza stone using fingers dipped in olive oil. If desired sprinkle basil, thyme or other seasonings on crust. Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake for 15 to 20 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven.

We loved the new recipe! It was thick and chewy but still a tad crunchy. It was delicious and so much better than the last dough recipe.

I liked the crust a lot but would have liked it with a little bit of olive oil I think. Michael said the olive oil might make it too crunchy but the only way to see is if we try it. He had a great idea to use some sea salt on the crust when baking it.

I ate three slices. I was famished after my swim and the pizza hit the spot big time. I ate two smaller sizes and one slice that was a bit bigger.

The perfect end to a Friday night: pizza, wine and funny TV shows. It was great!

QUESTION: Do you have a favorite pizza dough recipe?