It's my party and I'll cook if I want to...
And now, in Hobbit tradition, I shall give all of YOU a present for my birthday. ^_^
Pizza Crusts
These partially baked crusts freeze well-- they're really handy.
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
7 to 8 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c warm water (110 to 115°)
Combine yeast, 2 1/2 flour, salt and warm water in large bowl. Beat at low speed of mixer 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. By hand, stir in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until Smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Shape into ball; place in greased bowl and turn dough over to grease top. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Punch down dough; divide into fourths. Roll out each part to make an 11" circle. Stretch each circle to fit a 12" greased pizza pan. (Or roll each portion of dough into a 12X10 rectagle; place on baking sheet and build up edges slightly.)
Bake in 500° oven 6 to 8 minutes, until crust starts to brown. (crust will be somehwat uneven due to baked-in air bubbles, but this will not affect finished pizza.) Cool. Freeze in pans or on flat surface, then wrap each crust seperately in foil or freezer paper and return to freezer. Or make pizza when crust is cool and bake. You can leave crust at room temperature 24 hours before making pizza.
Makes four partially baked crusts.
Pizza Sauce
You can freeze 3/4 cup portions of sauce in cup containers.
2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste
2 c. water
3 tblsp. parsely flakes
4 tsp. instant minced onion
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 tsp. dried basil leaves, crushed
2 cloves garlic, minced
Combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Makes three cups.
Bonus:
Spinach and Sausage Roll thingies
This isn't so much a formal recipe as it is a loose idea, inspired by a frend's descriptions. It's certainly fun to experiment with, at any rate. It's also a good way to use up extra dough and sauce, if you don't really need four to six pizzas.
One cookie pan's worth of the above mentioned pizza dough, before baking
One packge of Stouffer's Spinach Souffle, thawed but not completely cooked
However much Italian sausage (crumbled into tiny pieces) as you think will work, today I'm running with a pound's worth... probably less once I get there.
Spread the dough flat as you would, and spread the Spinach Souffle across the top surface, also adding the crumbled sausage. Roll this up (we're basically aiming for a jelly roll/cinimon roll type structure) and cut into slices. Arrange these on the pan and bake until they seem right. (Dunno how long that will be, I'm thinking 10 minutes-- Your Milage May Vary.) Serve hot with leftover pizza sauce for dipping.
Pizza Crusts
These partially baked crusts freeze well-- they're really handy.
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
7 to 8 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c warm water (110 to 115°)
Combine yeast, 2 1/2 flour, salt and warm water in large bowl. Beat at low speed of mixer 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. By hand, stir in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until Smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Shape into ball; place in greased bowl and turn dough over to grease top. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Punch down dough; divide into fourths. Roll out each part to make an 11" circle. Stretch each circle to fit a 12" greased pizza pan. (Or roll each portion of dough into a 12X10 rectagle; place on baking sheet and build up edges slightly.)
Bake in 500° oven 6 to 8 minutes, until crust starts to brown. (crust will be somehwat uneven due to baked-in air bubbles, but this will not affect finished pizza.) Cool. Freeze in pans or on flat surface, then wrap each crust seperately in foil or freezer paper and return to freezer. Or make pizza when crust is cool and bake. You can leave crust at room temperature 24 hours before making pizza.
Makes four partially baked crusts.
Pizza Sauce
You can freeze 3/4 cup portions of sauce in cup containers.
2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste
2 c. water
3 tblsp. parsely flakes
4 tsp. instant minced onion
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 tsp. dried basil leaves, crushed
2 cloves garlic, minced
Combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Makes three cups.
Bonus:
Spinach and Sausage Roll thingies
This isn't so much a formal recipe as it is a loose idea, inspired by a frend's descriptions. It's certainly fun to experiment with, at any rate. It's also a good way to use up extra dough and sauce, if you don't really need four to six pizzas.
One cookie pan's worth of the above mentioned pizza dough, before baking
One packge of Stouffer's Spinach Souffle, thawed but not completely cooked
However much Italian sausage (crumbled into tiny pieces) as you think will work, today I'm running with a pound's worth... probably less once I get there.
Spread the dough flat as you would, and spread the Spinach Souffle across the top surface, also adding the crumbled sausage. Roll this up (we're basically aiming for a jelly roll/cinimon roll type structure) and cut into slices. Arrange these on the pan and bake until they seem right. (Dunno how long that will be, I'm thinking 10 minutes-- Your Milage May Vary.) Serve hot with leftover pizza sauce for dipping.