I can’t possibly express how frickin’ excited I am about this pizza crust. When the pizza finished baking and I took my first bit, I think I let out a really loud squeal.
You see, I have been working on pizza for years now because frankly, pizza is 95% crust 5% toppings. I know that seems huge but if you have a crappy crust- no one cares about your toppings and frankly, my crust have always been crappy.
Until now.
After years of trial, error, and research on the internet- I’ve figured it out: high heat and a pizza stone.
A few words about the pizza stone and pizza making
- Always place your stone in a cold oven-never toss it in at the last minute because a) it does your pizza no good and b) it can harm the stone.
- Always wash with water only. If you use soap on your stone, you will most likely always have a nice soapy taste to the pizza you make.
- Always let the stone cool completely down before cleaning ( I usually leave it in my oven until the next day.)
- In order to get your crust to not be soggy, you can’t have a heavy had in sauce usage (ie a 1/2″ layer over the entire surface.
I know the stone seems a bit pricey but considering a takeout pizza can cost anywhere from 10-20 dollars AND you have no idea of what ingredients go into making the pizza- this is one investment you won’t regret making.
Perfect Pizza Crust/ BBQ Chicken Pizza
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Erin Alderson
Recipe type: Main Course
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Warm Water
- 2¼ teaspoons yeast
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 1½- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- Pizza:
- 2 boneless chicken breast
- 1 small onion
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¾ cup favorite bbq sauce
- 1 cup pineapple cut into small chunks
- 1 cup each: mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese
- 1 recipe for the perfect pizza crust
Instructions
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, and honey- stir with a wooden spoon until yeast is dissolved. Let sit until yeast begins to activate, 5-10 minutes. Once yeast is ready, toss in oil, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Turn your mixer on low with the dough hook on and let mix, scrapping down the sides as needed. From here on out, add 2-4 tablespoons of flour at a time, letting the dough mix for a bit until adding more flour. When the dough starts to come together, continue to let the mixer run for 1-2 minutes and adding more flour until your dough has pulled away from the sides of the mixer. The goal is to have a soft dough that still sticks to the bottom of the mixer but pulls away from the side. Once your dough has reached that consistency, continue to mix for 2-3 minutes more. Once there, remove from the mixer and place in a warm spot. Brush with oil and let rise for 1-2 hours (depending on how fast your dough rises).
- Once your dough has double in size, turn on your oven to 500˚ with a pizza stone placed in the lower third of your oven (this is the most important step). Return to your dough and punch it down. While the oven heats and the dough rises once more (but no more than 20 minutes.) During this time, prepare your ingredients.
- Once your oven has almost reached 500˚, roll the dough out onto a surface covered in cornmeal (I used a large wood cutting board put some of you may have a pizza peel.) Roll it out to the size of your pizza stone (not any bigger- you will have problems) and cover in your toppings. Now, if you are talented enough, slide your pizza onto the stone while still in the oven. If you are a clutz like me, carefully remove the stone, slide the pizza on, and return to the oven rather quickly. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate (if your oven heats in the back like mine), and continue to cook until crust looks crisp and the cheese is browning (usually another 2-5 minutes.) Remove pizza by placing it back on the cutting board and let cool slightly before cutting.
- Pizza Topping:
- In a pan, heat oil over medium low heat. Add in onions and cook until translucent (4-6 minutes), set aside. In same pan, add the chicken breast and pan fry until cook through (time depends on the thickness of your chicken breast.) Remove from pan and let cool for slightly. Once you can handle the chicken, shred or dice into small pieces. Return onions back to the pan, along with the shredded chicken and bbq sauce. Let simmer until bbq sauce is heated through.
- Once your pizza dough is ready, pour bbq mixture and evenly distribute across the crust. Sprinkle with cheese (adding more if you would like) and pineapple. Bake according to pizza crust instructions.
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