Perfect Cheese Pizza
Serves 4 | Prep Time: 10 minutes | Total time: 50 minutes
Speed Tip: Use a pre-made crust
Ingredients
1 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 cup + 2 TB water
1 TB milk
2 TB olive oil
1/3 cup Classic Pizza Sauce
8-oz low fat shredded mozzarella cheese (or as much as you like) 16-inch pizza pan
Method
Place white flour, wheat flour, salt, and instant yeast into a bowl. Add the water, milk, and olive oil, and mix well, starting with a large spoon and ending with your clean hands. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until the surface is smooth. Round and place in a bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
After the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Press on the risen dough to gently release the gasses, then pull the edges together at the bottom to form a ball, and let rest for 5 minutes.
Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a flowered surface until it is the size of your pizza pan. You may gently stretch the dough to achieve your desired width. Lift carefully and place onto the pizza pan. Sometimes we like to roll the edge of the dough under to form a “pie edge”.
Gently spread pizza sauce over the shell. Sprinkle a thick layer of cheese all around the edge (it will melt inwards) and then a little more lightly over the rest of the surface.
Bake in the middle rack, checking after 5 minutes to see if the pan needs to be turned. Continue baking until the cheese is speckled with brown and the bottom of the crust is golden brown. We like our pizza to be soft with a slightly crisp bottom. Bake about 7 minutes total.
Variations: Add toppings!