There was a time, not too long ago, when the kids still lived at home, that we needed to make two pizzas every Friday night for dinner. Well, we didn’t actually have to, but it was a lot easier to make two pizzas for the four of us so we could also get lunch out of it the next day. And making two pizzas made it easier to do one meat based and one meatless pizza.

After becoming full fledged empty nesters, (the kids are living independently with paying jobs, not just away at school for long periods of time) we still made enough dough for two pizzas for a while. We would split the dough in half and freeze half of it for use the following week. But the frozen & thawed dough wasn’t as easy to work with because it didn’t always transfer all that well to the pizza stone. And Eric preferred working with fresh dough. So I altered my basic dough recipe to make just enough dough for one pizza. As full fledged empty nesters, we’re not planning on downsizing our home, just the quantity of servings in some of our meals. Unless we have family or friends over for pizza, that is!

1# Pizza Dough

Pizza Dough (adapted from Regal Automatic Breadmaker Guide & Cookbook)

Makes 1 pound of dough

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions:

With the ingredients all at room temperature, place them into the pan of the breakmaker in the order required by the manufacturer. Select the dough setting and press start or program the bread maker to finish at the time desired, if that is an option on the machine.

Throw all the ingredients into the pan of a bread maker.

Two hours later, the dough is done!

Set the pizza stone in the oven and set the oven temperature to 475º.  Roll the dough out on a floured surface.

Roll the dough out to the size needed for the pizza stone or pan.

Transfer the dough to a cornmeal covered pizza peel. Top the dough with the desired ingredients. Transfer the pizza to the pizza stone and bake it for 8-10 minutes, until the crust starts to brown and any cheese is melted. Remove the pizza from the oven using the pizza peel and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before cutting it into slices. Serve & enjoy!

We went with spinach, feta, jalapenos & prosciutto!

Happy Friday & Happy Pizza Night! ~Linda

Pizza Dough (adapted from Regal Automatic Breadmaker Guide & Cookbook)

Makes 1 pound of dough

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions:

With the ingredients all at room temperature, place them into the pan of the breakmaker in the order required by the manufacturer. Select the dough setting and press start or program the bread maker to finish at the time desired, if that is an option on the machine.

Set the pizza stone in the oven and set the oven temperature to 475º.  Roll the dough out on a floured surface. Transfer the dough to a cornmeal covered pizza peel. Top the dough with the desired ingredients. Transfer the pizza to the pizza stone and bake it for 8-10 minutes, until the crust starts to brown and any cheese is melted. Remove the pizza from the oven using the pizza peel and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before cutting it into slices. Serve & enjoy!