Pizza Dough

My regular, frequently used recipe for pizza dough.  I use the Whole Wheat Dough in my Pizza Salad recipe all the time.

Basic White Dough

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water (from the tap, put into Pyrex measuring cup and microwave for 10-12 secs for just the right temp)
• 1 pkg or 2¼ tsp active dry yeast
• 2½ to 3 cups bread flour
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:

• Add yeast and warm water in food processor and stir to dissolve.  Let sit for 10 minutes.
• Add olive oil and salt.
• Add bread flour, one cup at a time, pulsing to combine. When 2½ cups of flour have been added, process for about 2 minutes to "knead" the dough. The dough should feel a bit warm after this process. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle in more bread flour and process until the consistency is smooth and elastic but not too sticky.
• Remove the dough and put into an oiled large bowl; cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise for at least 1 hour, until it has doubled in size.
• After the first rise, punch the dough down and knead a couple of times.
• Divide the dough into 2 or more parts and roll them into balls.  Cover them with the towel and let rest for 20 minutes.
• After this, the dough is ready to be shaped, topped and cooked.
• Unused dough can be wrapped in a freezer bag and frozen.

Basic Whole Wheat Dough

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water (put into Pyrex measuring cup and microwave for 10-12 secs)
• 1 pkg or 2¼ tsp active dry yeast
• 1-2 tsp honey or sugar (optional)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1½ to 2 cups bread flour
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:

• Follow same instructions as above, except dissolve the sugar or honey, if using, along with the yeast and water in the first step.
• Add the whole wheat flour first, then follow with bread flour.

Pizza Salad CPK Style

Originally I got the idea for pizza salad from CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) which we used to go to in the B.C. era (Before Children) for their "Tricolore Pizza Salad." When the economy started going downhill, restaurants started cutting costs and skimping on portion sizes and ingredients. CPK started omitting the good Parmesan cheese they used on the pizza salad, and also started charging more, which ticked me off. I started trying to recreate the dish at home, where I can put on as much Parmesan cheese as I like.

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 package or 2¼ tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1½ to 2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp honey, plus additional 1 Tbsp for brushing pizza dough

Salad

• 1 package prewashed salad mix, preferably field greens with radicchio
• 1/2 package prewashed arugula, or rocket
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
• Grated or shredded parmesan cheese

 Salad Dressing

• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Making the Pizza Dough:

• Dissolve dry yeast and honey in 1 cup warm water.  
• Add whole wheat flour, 1½ cups of the all-purpose or bread flour and olive oil.  Mix well to form a sticky dough.  Knead for 5 min or process for 2 minutes in the food processor, adding up to 1/2 cup flour as needed to keep dough from being too sticky.  
• Set dough aside in an oiled large bowl at room temperature and let rise for 1 hour, covered with a towel. Dough should be doubled in size.
• After 1 hour, punch dough down and remove from the bowl.
• Divide into 4 equal parts.  Roll each part into a ball, then place 4 balls back into the bowl.  Cover again and let rise for 15-20 mins. Dough is ready to be used.

Cooking and assembly:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Line baking pan with foil and coat with cooking spray.
• Mix 1 tbsp honey with 1 tbsp water until honey is dissolved.
• Form pizza crust about 10-12 in diameter on prepared pan.  Bake for 8 mins.  
• Remove, brush top of crust with honey/water mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Replace in oven and bake an additional 3-5 mins, or until crust is lightly browned on the edges. You want it thin and crispy.
• Bake remaining 3 crusts in the same way.  You can also put the pizza crust in a 425°F grill and cook with the cover down for 6-8 minutes.
• Remove baked crusts and let cool.
• Cut each crust into quarters and arrange on plates.
• Whisk all salad dressing ingredients together until emulsified.  Toss packaged salad greens, 1/2 package arugula and tomatoes together with dressing and scoop a heaping serving onto each pizza crust.  Garnish with Parmesan.