Easy Homemade Pizza

Home made pizza is the best in the world.Nothng beats a hot chewy crust with your choice of favorite toppings.However many find making it a chore, thanks to the labor intensive prep. that doesn't have to be.There are shortcuts to make a pleasant home made meal more pleasant.

Suzanne Lenzer, new to writing to today's Wednesday New York Times Food section, explored this in her article on home baked pies.This is slightly different than the thousands of other recipes.For one it's Ms. Lenzer's recipe and she has been tweaking for almost twenty years so that it has become a fuss free , almost work free dough She is a pizza connoisseur, having authored the book Truly,Madly Pizza (Rodale Books Publisher) which is not only a good read for pizza lovers but also for home chefs wanting a variety of different pie recipes. Unlike traditional recipes , Ms. Lenzer uses a food processor.This cuts out the kneading and punching, with the machine expertly blending and pounding the dough. Afterwards she recommends giving it a few quick folds, then dimple it like focaccia, letting it rise for only twenty minutes.That's it. No waiting overnight for the dough to rise, no table to mess up. Just a neat way of creating a versatile dough.

Another excellent facet about this dough is that you can freeze it. Usually most home bakers
stick pizza dough  in the fridge if there's left over. It only lasts  really a day or two and then it has to be thrown out. The better way, as Ms. Lenzer suggests is freezing it for future use. When it's ready to be used, it just has to be thawed out . This reactivates the yeast which allows for a double rise. This also helps to develop the flavor as well, resulting in a tangy base and crustier crust. several batches can be made so pizza can be eaten two or even three times a week much to the delight of family pizza lovers. The dough itself is the basic one , made with bread flour , water and olive oil along with medium milled corn meal. This last is  used when the dough is being kneaded a second time  to get it into the pie shape. The dough can also be used for calzone too., those socklike treats, filled with ricotta and ham,Home bakers will enjoy having this quick dough for experimenting with different topping and styles of pizza They can try a pizza Bianca or a margherita one week , while trying a variety of focaccia and little  pizzas the next.

Homemade pizza is always a treat. Imagine baking it two or three times a week.It can be done thanks to an easy recipe that takes away that dreaded an messy prep time