What is easy weeknight pizza?
Without a doubt, the best pizzas take time to make. Neapolitan-style pizzas take six to eight hours to rise, and great New York-style pizza doughs slowly ferment in the fridge for at least 24 hours. The belief is that longer fermenting, or rising times, produce better flavor in the pizza. That’s great and all, but sometimes you just don’t have the time!
What I’m submitting to you today is an easy pizza dough recipe that can be ready in just two hours. It’s perfect for any weeknight! With the addition of a few key ingredients, you can make up for any lost flavor from the quick rising time. And this pizza is so convenient and delicious, I promise you won’t regret making it, even on your busiest night.
How does this recipe work?
So, much like my “no-knead” bread recipe, this pizza dough is a standard yeasted dough that you can make with “Instant” or “Active Dry” yeast. However, unlike my no-knead recipe, because this dough will rise so quickly, you WILL need to knead the dough for a few minutes to develop the proper gluten required for a deliciously chewy pizza. Don’t skip this step!
Also, earlier I mentioned that you’d be adding a few key ingredients to this pizza to make the flavors pop. Those ingredients are just one tsp of sugar and one tsp of olive oil. Traditional slow-risen pizza crusts get their flavor from the long fermentation process, so they don’t need any additives like sugar and oil to boost their flavor. Since this pizza is skipping over the long rise, the sugar and oil will give the crust a little extra flavor that will be very welcomed. These two ingredients will also help the crust brown a little bit better than if you didn’t add them. Browning is harder to achieve in a standard home oven.
All right, just show me how to make this!
To make this recipe, just watch the video below and follow the recipe. You’ll be on your way to a meal that you can enjoy any night of the week!
The Recipe: Easy Weeknight Pizza
The recipe yields two individual pizzas, but it can be easily doubled or tripled to make four or six pizzas.
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour……….2 1/2 cups
- Water………………………….1 cup
- Salt………………………………1 tsp
- Instant Yeast………………1 tsp
- Sugar………………………….1 tsp
- Olive Oil……………………..1 tsp
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together until everything is thoroughly combined and a dough begins to form.
- Knead the dough for 3-4 minutes by hand or with the dough hook in a stand mixer.
- Cover the dough and let it rise for 5 minutes.
- Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form each piece into a ball.
- Cover the balls of dough with a kitchen towel and let them rise for 1 1/2 hours on the counter.
- 30 minutes before the rising time is complete, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F or 260 degrees C.
- After the dough balls have risen, sprinkle them with flour and shape them into discs, as seen in the video.
- Top each pizza crust with sauce, cheese, and toppings of your choice.
- Bake on a pizza stone or a non-stick pizza pan for 7 minutes, or until the cheese is beginning to bubble.
My goal is to help you make better bread, sourdough and pizza at home.
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