Ok, so this isn’t as much of a recipe as it is a concept…
Every other week or so, we gather up some of the veggies from our CSA, a jar of our Springdell Summer CSA tomatoes, and some shredded mozzarella cheese for a “Make Your Own Pizza” party. We have been doing this for years and we all love it. My husband loves it because sometimes we experiment with different kinds of dough (including beer dough, such as this one from King Arthur Flour). My kids love it because they get to be the masters of their own pizzas and choose what goes on top. I love it because if I spread out a healthy array of toppings to choose from, I get to sit back and watch my family deliberately cook and feed themselves healthy vegetables. It’s a win-win.
I also find it to be a great low-key dinner idea for friends. We often will invite folks to join us for make-your-own-pizza night when the big game is on, if there’s something fun to celebrate, or just because. We always have fun with it.
Usually when I make up a batch of dough, I’ll make up some extras and freeze the rest in pizza portions. If you are yeast fearing (as I myself once was) or just don’t have time to make dough happen, the markets have some and inexpensive options (I saw an organic and local bag of dough for under 1.50 recently).
I usually like to mix the minced garlic, oregano and sometimes other Springdell surprises right in with the diced tomatoes. The trick to getting the veggies eaten is to put them out in plain view as you are prepping the dough. Folks will walk by and pick at them, and that’s not a bad thing!
My favorite pizza this month was a Beet-A-Roni pizza with herbed goat cheese and winter squash puree. It was unfortunately and accidentally devoured before the photo op, but the colors were lovely and it was absolutely delish.
I have found that a cookie sheet is good for making pizza, just a quick spray of oil helps to keep it from sticking. A pizza stone is even better (just forego the oil spray). I usually have a bag of Four Star Farms Corn Meal on hand to dust under my crusts, whether using the stone or the sheet. My boys went simple with theirs this time, 5 leaves of spinach between them. At least they enjoyed their spinach salad on the side (and I snuck some kale powder into their sauce- SHHH!)
Grab some cheese, tomatoes, dough, and whatever else you have on hand that would be potentially appealing on a pizza. Make it your own, and enjoy!
- 2 cups all purpose whole wheat flour, plus a little extra on hand (I used Four Star Farms from the Springdell Winter share box)
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar or honey
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Optional add-ins, such as kale powder or Parmesan cheese
- Combine yeast and water in a small bowl, let it sit for 5 minutes.
- In your stand mixer bowl (or large mixing bowl) combine flour, sugar/honey, and salt. Make a well in the center of your flour and add the oil, yeast & water. Stir until just incorporated. You can add optional ingredients now too (1 tsp Kale powder or 2 tbsp Parmesan are things I’ve done)
- Knead your dough (about 5-8 minutes) or use the dough hook on your stand mixer (about 3-4 minutes). Add your on- hand flour just a tiny bit at a time juuust until the dough is not sticky.
- Let the dough ball sit at room temp in a sprayed/greased bowl covered with a clean kitchen towel until doubled in size (anywhere from an hour or two).
- After the dough has risen, I usually separate it into 2 balls, freezing one for later and working the other into a thin crust on a floured surface. (Preheat your oven about now to 475 depending on your cooking method-I go a little higher with the pizza stone)
- Transfer dough to a sprayed cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal (from the Winter share, of course) or to a cornmeal dusted pizza peel if using the stone.
- Adorn your pizza with farm veggies and cheese as desired and pop it in the oven.
- Start checking it at 10 minutes. You should be good to go no longer than 15.