My Bread Making Adventure: Part IV - Pizza Edition

A few nights ago, Rob and I were hungry, and there was nothing to eat. In desperation, I turned to my trusty bread machine. I found a very simple recipe for pizza dough, and decided to give it a shot. The first pie came out surprisingly well. In fact, it was so good, we decided to celebrate our friend Ed's birthday with more homemade pizzas (along with cookies, cake, wine, and beer).

The recipe (originally from here, by Kim):

• 1 cup flat beer (I used Pabst the first time around, Yuengling the second... no noticeable difference)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Throw everything in your bread machine and set it on "dough". It takes a little while, but the resulting pile of doughy goodness is the perfect consistency for pizza -- no more frozen, store-bought dough for us! By the way, if you get impatient and take your dough out a few minutes early, just be sure to have lots of extra flour on hand. It'll help make it less sticky.

For my pizzas, I sprinkled flour and cornmeal on a pan (makes the crust crispier). I stretched and flattened the dough by hand, and folded the edges for a nice, thick crust. I brushed olive oil on the crust and let the dough sit for about 15 minutes, with a paper towel covering the top. Next, I added a thin layer of Prego tomato sauce (I would love to make my own sauce next time, but Prego got the job done). On top of the sauce, I sprinkled a thick layer of mozzarella, and topped it off with some fresh parsley.

The pizza takes about 20-25 minutes to bake at 400° F -- just wait until the crust is golden brown and crispy. I added fresh Parmesan cheese on top after taking it out of the oven.

The final step: cut and consume! I'm sure this recipe can be adjusted for different pizza styles and toppings. If you try it, let me know what kind of pizza you made!