Snowy Weekend Pizza Feast

Pizza... my favorite food of all time.

We very rarely had restaurant pizza when I was growing up; we almost always made it from scratch at home. My Mom used a crust recipe from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook that used yeast, water, oil and flour. I made that pizza dough through college and after when my sister would come over to my house for weekend pizza parties. I experiment now and then but I always go back to a basic crust made with olive oil.

I love pizza and there are very few pizza's that I do not like. For the record; you will never find mushrooms, broccoli, or fish of any kind on a pizza that I make. (Unless I do not intend to eat any of it.)

Here's our Snowy Weekend Pizza Feast made with Nick Malgieri's Olive Oil Dough. We topped the large pizza with hot Italian sausage, roasted red peppers and sauteed onions. The individual pizzas were four cheese and Canadian Bacon with  crushed pineapple. There was nothing left for a late night snack or breakfast the next day.

Thick Crust Pizza or Focaccia Dough

from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri

4 C flour

2 tsp. salt

4 tsp. active dry yeast

1 2/3 C warm water

3 Tbl. olive oil

Whisk yeast and oil into the warm water. Combine flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Slowly stir the liquid mixture into the flour stirring from the center out. When all the flour is incorporated and a soft dough has formed cover and allow to rise 1-2 hour. Oil your hands and your pan well before pressing the dough into your pan. Allow to rise until doubled before topping and baking at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Makes a 12x18 inch foccacia or a large deep dish pizza.

Ps. It makes a awesome Foccacia too.