Friday Night Movie Night: Pizza Dough Recipe

Every Friday night my husband, George, and I do pizza and a movie. It's a tradition we rarely break! Since we don't have a movie theater on St. John, movies are usually Blu-rays from Netflix's on our couch. We take turns every week choosing the movie so our Netflix's queue is quite eclectic. It's funny how something so simple has become the highlight of the week.  By Wednesday George is asking me, if it's Friday yet. But I think it's more for the pizza then the movie!

We use to order our pizza from Cafe Roma. It's our absolute favorite restaurant pizza on island, however during their off season hiatus last October I was inspired to make my own. The first Friday I tried, it was terrible and I swore I wouldn't attempt that again! But after some encouragement I tried again the following Friday.  Besides Roma was still closed for another couple of weeks. That week it turned out much better, and I've been making our Friday Night pizza ever since. Sorry Roma, although I still may want to take a Friday off every now and again! 

It's taken quite a few Friday's to perfect, but it's really a great recipe now and rises perfectly. The combination of whole wheat and all purpose flour adds complexity to the dough without overpowering the pie!

CC's Friday Night Pizza Dough

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (separate into two portions, 1 cup and 1/2 cup)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 package of active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (warm not boiling)

1/2 Tbsp Honey (I use local honey of course!)

1/2 Tbsp Sea Salt (local if you can get it, I still have some I harvested from the Salt Pond last season)

In a bowl add the flours (reserving the 1/2 cup of all purpose flour for later), yeast, honey and water. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are evenly incorporated. Add the sea salt and slowly add the reserved 1/2 cup of flour until it forms a ball and the dough is not sticking to the sides of the bowl (you may not need the entire 1/2 cup of flour).  Be sure to add the salt at this point, if it's added with the initial ingredients the dough doesn't rise properly.  Be careful not to over mix your dough or it will get tough. 

Lightly coat a bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and then flip the dough over so that the top and bottom are coated with olive oil. Loosely cover with a piece of plastic wrap or a dish towel. Let the dough rise in a warm but breeze-free location for about an hour or until it doubles in bulk. (I let mine rest on top of the stove or kitchen counter away from open windows.)

Punch the dough down to release the air and knead it a few times with your knuckles. Remember the more you work the dough the tougher it gets, so don't over do it. Cover again and let rise a second time. The dough is ready for use after the second rise. I usually punch it down again and let it rise a third time since I make it early in the day. 

Makes 1, 16-18" pizza crust

I make my dough on Friday mornings, but it can be made a day or two in advance. Just wrap it up in plastic and store it in the fridge after the first rise. It can also be wrapped up and frozen for later use. 

I'll post my homemade sauce recipe which goes perfectly with the pizza soon!

Enjoy!

CC