One day I realized that kids love pizza, and that we would be eating a lot of pizza in the years to come. So I decided to get really good at making pizza. This is the result! It took a lot of trial and error.

So we can make pizza anytime, I like to buy Mozzerella cheese at CostCo and bag it up with about 2 cups in a sandwich size Ziploc bag. I keep it in the freezer, and then set it out while I'm making pizza dough. It thaws in time to make pizza.


I also love green chile on pizza. In August the stores get fresh Hatch green chile. You can have it roasted right there in front of the store. Then they put the hot, roasted green chile in a giant trash bag. While it's in the bag it steams itself. When you get it home, you get off the peels, remove the seeds and chop it up. Then you can freeze it. I usually only have to get some every 2-3 years because we don't go through it very fast.

We also keep pepperoni, sausage and hamburger in the freezer to use on pizzas.


This dough makes about two full size pizzas, so I usually scale it up by 1 1/2 batch to make three pizzas. You can also use it to make pan pizzas, or a regular sized pizza and a giant pizza on a half sheet pan. The possibilities are endless. You spread olive oil on top and sprinkle garlic salt on top. Then bake it for about 8 minutes. It won't be done, but it will be slightly toasted.
 


Cutting pizza with scissors is really easy!

When it is slightly cooled, I like to lift it off the pizza stone and then cut.


And you can cut like this to make more servings for kids.

Pizza also needs to be served with Ranch Dressing. If your bottle is running low, this is what Dad does to get out the last little bit. Hold on tight!



Our Best Bites Pizza Crust
1 1/2 cup warm (105–115 degrees) water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3–4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl (the bowl of your mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.
2. Add salt and stir. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and mix well. Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and your humidity) until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.
3. Cover and allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
4. Preheat your oven (and your pizza stone, if you want) to 425 degrees. While oven is heating, punch down dough and shape into a disc. Spray your work surface, rolling pin, and pizza stone with non-stick cooking spray. Place dough disc onto work surface. Roll and shape into a circle. (Disregard all of this, by the way, if you’re a stinking dough-thrower). Very gently transfer the dough onto your pizza stone and continue to shape up to the edges of the stone.
5. Using a fork, prick several holes in the crust. Drizzle crust with a little olive oil and brush all the way up to the edges. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Both oiling and garlic salting the crust help crisp it up, give it a great flavor, and keep it from getting soggy in the middle.
6. Bake crust in preheated oven for 8-12 minutes or until slightly golden. Remove from oven.
7. Spread a layer of sauce (if desired) over the surface of the crust. Top with whatever toppings you like (I do the flat stuff, i.e. the meat, first). Then sprinkle with oregano.
8. Return crust to oven and bake 10-12 more minutes or until cheese is melty and the crust is golden brown. And there you have it. Beautiful pizza, completely non-doughy in the middle, a little crispy on the edges and chewy on the inside.

Link to Our Best Bites: https://ourbestbites.com/cooking-class-pizza-101/