The Realtor's Perfect Pizza Primer W/ Dough Recipe

"Here are all my pizza secrets. I have been making this for several years and perfecting it as I went. This is really a set of directions for making the PERFECT thin crust pizza, directions for Sausage and Carmelized Onion Pizza plus my personal dough recipe- all in one. I always make this dough in the bread machine. It's a little sticky but I like it that way and I use a liberal amount of flour on my hands, rolling pin and parchment. The end result is a tender, lightly crispy, thin crust. This makes a 2 pound dough ball. It will be enough for two 10x12 rectangle shaped pizzas. Feel free to add your favorite toppings and personalize your pizza!"
 
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photo by Boomette photo by Boomette
photo by Boomette
photo by alligirl photo by alligirl
photo by gailanng photo by gailanng
Ready In:
1hr 20mins
Ingredients:
9
Yields:
2 pizzas
Serves:
6-8
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ingredients

  • The dough is

  • 1 12 cups plus 3 tbsp. warm water (80*)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (if you have garlic oil, use it now!)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons dry milk (I use dry coffee creamer)
  • 4 12 cups flour (supposed to be bread flour but I use AP)
  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • I add the herbs when the machine beeps to add stuff like nuts

  • 12 teaspoon dry oregano
  • 12 teaspoon dry basil
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directions

  • Make the dough in the bread machine. Put everything in there according to the manufacturers instructions for your machine.
  • If I have the time, I shred my own mozzarella cheese (about 2lbs). If not, I use the store bought shred- about 3 cups per pizza. Then, lucky me, I live 3 blocks from the place that makes homemade Italian sausage, I get a pound of the mild, loose sausage and fry it up just until the pink goes and some pieces are starting to brown. I also fry up the onions right in there with the sausage and they are also just starting to brown and are no longer crispy but are kinda wilted and softer. I use half an onion about the size of a baseball, sliced in 3/8 inch rounds. If you’re doing other veggies, do them right in there with these.
  • I cut the dough in half and make 2 pizzas rolled out to about 10x12 rectangles. I roll it out to about 1/4 to 3/8 inch- pretty thin, like cookie dough. It makes a thin crust pizza that is crispy on the bottom but doughy on the top like it’s supposed to be.
  • Then I put the pizza together with the dough, a layer of cheese, a thick layer of sauce (use about 1 to 1 1/2 cups per pizza), the sausage and onion mixture or whatever toppings you're using, a heavy sprinkling of granulated garlic and then romano cheese, then another semi-thick layer of cheese.
  • When I heat the oven up (425*), I put the pan or stone in the oven so when I put the pizza on it, it’s already hot. I roll my dough out with a rolling pin onto heavily floured parchment and use a cookie sheet with no sides to transfer the pizzas back and forth and I just drag them by the edges of the parchment. I take all the extra racks out of the oven and move the one I’m using close to the bottom so there’s room to work in there.
  • Bake them 20 minutes. The tops should be very brown and look good enough to be in a magazine. When it comes out, the onions are perfectly carmelized and the sausage is not all burnt up or funky raw like when you throw it on top. It stays juicy and flavorful cause it’s baked it the sauce. Only pepperoni or little cooked meatballs goes on top. All other stuff gets fried lightly and baked in, under the final layer of cheese.
  • *The hot pizza stone is a critical piece of the puzzle for achieving a perfect crust. Get one- they are sooo worth the money. If you don’t have one, use a dark cookie tray- not one of those air-bake ones. They don’t work well. Been there, done that. If you use a dark one, you’ll get very close to the perfect crust. Make sure you choose one that stays flat when it gets hot because some of them buckle up and twist when they get hot and then all your cheese and toppings will slide to the middle (oh, no!). I've been doing this a long time so I've made ALL the mistakes at least once!
  • This is another one of those recipes I’ve been refining for 15 or 20 years. This is as close to the perfect pizza I’ve come.

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Reviews

  1. The dough was great. I made it in the bread machine. DH rolled it. He said it was easy to roll. It gave a nice crust, crispy but tender inside. Wonderful pizza dough. Thanks Realtor :) Made for the Best of 2011 tag game
     
  2. OMGoodness! Wish I could give this 10 stars! I tend to shy away from 'dough' recipes, as I don't think that is my 'forte.' That said, DH used to work at a pizza place, and he said this is very much like the dough they used. He said definitely 5 stars; that is high praise indeed! I used my KA mixer with the dough hook attachment, and proofed for between 30 minutes to an hour. (Half of dough was doubled in size.) I added my favorite toppings, and followed all the other directions (I.e. pizza stone, and rack placement - moving pizza via parchment paper, ect.) and they were ALL very helpful to this novice. Made for Best of tag game 2010. Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom and tricks, Realtor, and a great recipe for jumping off into the world of pizza making!
     
  3. A complete guide to pizza making all in one place. Delicious and crisp crust that I mixed by hand and topped with the suggested caramelized onions and pepperoni. If loving pizza is wrong, I don't wanna be right. Made for Alphabet Soup Tag.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I'm a full-time Realtor for Century 21 Graham Realty during the day and at night I'm a wife and mother of one 6 year old daughter, Angelina plus one small dorkie dog (dachshund-yorkie mix) named Petey. I love to cook and experiment with new recipes. I've been collecting cookbooks (I have a few hundred) and recipes for as long as I can remember. I like to buy recipe boxes at yard sales and auctions and peak through them for yummy recipe gems. I've found some really amazing recipes that way. I'm a huge fan of Le Creuset enameled cast iron cookware. I've been collecting different pieces for a few years now. I always considered myself a great cook but these pans raise things to a whole new level. I'm planning to post all of my favorite recipes that I've collected over the years. I have all these clippings and pieces of paper and magazine clips that are everywhere. My recipe boxes are packed with these things and it's time to organize the whole mess. I suppose it will take years (did I say years?!?) to get them all posted but it's worth it. So keep checking back to my posts for new goodies. I can't wait to see what long lost gems turn up. I've already run across several of my old favs. Isn't it nice to have all your best recipes all organized right here? I've also been printing them out and putting them in a nice new binder where I can actually find them when I want to make them. I LOVE this site. I have found some of the best recipes EVER right here on 'Zaar. There are some fantastic cooks here and I just want to say "Thank you" to all of you who have made me look like the greatest cook on the planet with your wonderful recipes. I try to make as many new ones each week as I can. It's so much fun experimenting. My DH of 9 years is my guinea pig- he will eat ANYTHING I put in front of him. My little girl... well, she's more of a challenge to please. Not really picky but she doesn't really like meat or stuffing or peppers or mushrooms or.... oh, the new one is onions. I could go on but you get the idea. You probably have or had one just like her. They seem to learn all about these things that they don't like at school. All of the sudden...they don't like something they've been eating for 3 years because their friend "Alyssa" doesn't like it. What a challenge it is feeding these little creatures! That's her and Petey in the picture above. <img src="http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r317/j_welcome/pics2/food/PRMRcopy.jpg"> <img src="http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e110/flower753/Food/soup_banner.jpg"> <img src="http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj81/HokiesLady65/Recipezaar%20Album/iplaytagin.jpg"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/annacia/pt-shutterbug-banner-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/tgifford/Game%20Room%20Banners/AM%20Banners/holidaybadge.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"><img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/tgifford/Game%20Room%20Banners/AM%20Banners/potluckpbanner.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7505/mybanner4a394ee84d5f0.jpg" ><img src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a132/tgifford/Game%20Room%20Banners/AM%20Banners/ZaarStar-AMBanner.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/Sharon123/Copyoftag300-banner.jpg" border="0" alt="Susie's Banner for Newest Zaar Tag"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j166/ZaarNicksMom/Animation6.gif"> <img src="http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj81/HokiesLady65/Banners/holidayprmr.jpg"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/Holiday-plaid_HPI.gif"> <img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/dcmac/PAC%20Fall%2009/Image1.jpg"> <img src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg271/MrsTeny/Permanent%20Collection/PACSpring09Participation.jpg"> <img src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg271/MrsTeny/Permanent%20Collection/PACSpring09Iwasadopted.jpg"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/participantbannerzwt5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"><IMG src ="http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z205/jubespage/cupwitchanimation-small3.gif"> <img src ="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u208/diner_photos/lazymecookathon.jpg"> <img src="http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c105/jewelies/picwJT0Wr-1.jpg"> <img src="http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj81/HokiesLady65/Banners/AMBadgeGenTP2009.jpg"> <img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j166/ZaarNicksMom/PACsticker-Adopted.jpg">
 
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