Mr. Bean and I had some homemade pizza for dinner tonight. I make the dough in the bread machine. I often see bread machines of Freecycle, so if you're intrigued, keep your eyes open for one! It took me a while to get it right, but my most consistently good crust comes from the following recipe:
3/4 cup water
1.5 tsp olive oil
2 1/4 cup bread flour (very important to use bread flour!)
3/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp yeast
From time to time I make pizza with a blend of white and whole wheat flour, but the end result can be variable. Need to experiment with whole wheat crusts some more!
I pre-heat the oven to 450, and bake the naked crust for about 7 minutes
(the naked crust!)
Add toppings (canned tomato sauce, whatever herbs and veggies I have on hand, a handful of cheese), and bake another 10 minutes or so. Add in a salad and vino, and viola! You're done!
This works well for casual dinners with friends. Since most poeple don't make their own pizza, people are typically unduly impressed. Furthermore, since you control the cheese, the end result is relatively healthy, very tasty and very cheap!
I checked out "Smart Couples Finish Rich" and "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Personal Finance in your 20's and 30's" from the library. I plan to settle back and do some reading!
Pizza-- healthy and on the cheap!
November 15th, 2006 at 01:43 am
November 15th, 2006 at 03:21 am 1163560862
November 15th, 2006 at 03:27 am 1163561252
I do use a pizza stone from time to time. The reason I don't prefer to use the pizza stone is that you're supposed to preheat the stone in the oven and then put your crust on. I find it difficult to handle the hot stone, get the crust on, etc, etc, With that said, many people love using a stone, so maybe I'm jsut weird. I have also skipped the pre-heating of the stone. If you go this route you just need to bake a little longer. The crust recipe I posted can be doubled (probably a good idea for feeding a family).
November 15th, 2006 at 06:04 am 1163570663
November 15th, 2006 at 05:06 pm 1163610380