The Pizza System

People roll their eyes at me when I tell them that homemade pizza is a quick weeknight convenience food in my house. We usually have it once a week, often when we are strapped for time. It is such an easy go-to option for us that Dan and I never, ever have take out or delivery pizza. Why would we when we’ve made this version so easy for ourselves?

Having pizza at your fingertips involves keeping many of the components pre-portioned in the freezer. Like pizza dough–this recipe makes two 10-inch pizza crusts, and we typically make one to eat that night and stash one for later. Also required: tomatoes. We buy 28-ounce cans of Muir Glen plum tomatoes, puree them by inserting our stick blender right into the opened can (fewer dishes), and portioning the tomatoes into half cup containers for the freezer. When I buy my favorite hot Italian sausage from Fiorella’s, I always get extra and cut it into 3-ounce lengths, wrap them in plastic, and freeze them individually. And I even keep 4-ounce slabs of plain old Polly-o mozzarella individually wrapped and frozen, though we always mix this with some sharp Cabot cheddar, a mainstay in our fridge.

It might sound difficult to have this stuff prepped and ready to go, but once you get into the habit, it’s as easy and automatic as restocking milk and eggs. Then, the morning you decide you want pizza for dinner, take it out of the freezer in the morning and it’s ready when you are.

Here’s the latest version of my always-evolving recipe for pizza dough:

Makes 2 10-inch pizza crusts

1 1/2 cup hot water

1 teaspoon sugar

2 envelops yeast

2 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting your kneading surface

1 1/4 whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for oiling your bowl

In the bowl of a stand mixer outfitted with its dough hook, combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes. Add the flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl, and work under the dough hook until it has formed a sticky ball that clears the sides of the bowl.

Flour the clean counter top, and knead the dough by hand for about 5 minutes, sprinkling with more flour if it sticks to the counter. Why do this? I have to tell you, I am not really sure. But I’ve noticed lately that if I do this, the final crust seems a bit chewier, which I  prefer. Too lazy? Don’t do it. Just work it a few minutes more under the hook. That works, too.

Divide the dough in half, for two equal dough balls that look like this:

Unless you plan to bake two pizzas, put the one dough ball away for a rainy day.

Place the dough you are going to use in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about one hour. You can roll it out right after that or punch it down and let it rise again. You can also put the covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rise over night. All of this treatment of the dough seems to work out fine. Don’t overthink it.

About a half hour before you want to bake the pizza, preheat your oven to 500 or as high as it will go. Put a pizza stone in there, too, if you have one.

Roll the dough out into a 10- to 12-inch circle, and if you are completely OCD, like my husband, make sure it’s a perfect circle and that the edges are meticulously crimped so as to contain the toppings:

Now spread on your sauce and cheese, plus whatever toppings you like. In addition to sausage, this pie had sun-dried tomatoes and onions. If you are using a pizza stone, you want to do this on a pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal. It helps the pizza slide easily onto the stone.

We like our pizza extra crunchy, so we bake it for about 15 minutes. You always want to let a freshly baked pizza sit a few minutes before slicing so the cheese doesn’t run right off your slice.