Make and Freeze Pizza Dough

https://thepioneerwoman.com/food-and-friends/how-to-make-and-freeze-pizza-dough/

• 4-1/2 teaspoons Quick-Rise Yeast
• 2 cups Warm Water (115ºF)
• 2 teaspoons Sugar
• 5 cups Bread Flour
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon Salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine yeast, water, and sugar, and let sit for 10 minutes. The liquid should be foamy and bubbly, indicating that the yeast is alive.

Add bread flour, olive oil, and salt, and stir using the dough hook or a wooden spoon, until roughly combined. Fit the bowl and the dough hook onto the stand mixer and knead on medium low speed for 10 minutes, until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for about 30 minutes, until the dough has doubled in size.

Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide into four even pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a ball. 

The dough is now ready to be rolled out and baked, or ready to be frozen. 

To freeze pizza dough, place the pizza dough balls into resealable plastic bags. Make sure that if you put multiple balls of dough in one bag, you use parchment paper or wax paper to keep them separated.

To thaw, place the pizza dough in the refrigerator the morning before you want to make dinner, then roll and bake as usual.

To bake, preheat oven to 500ºF. Roll thawed (or freshly made) dough and bake each pizza about 10–15 minutes.

Sourdough Pizza Crust (including sourdough starter)

 Sourdough starter

• 1 (1 tablespoon) package dry yeast
• 2 ¹⁄₂ cups water
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar

1. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water, rest for ten minutes.
2. Mix in flour, sugar& remaining water.
3. Allow to stand, loosely covered, in a warm place for 3 or 4 days. Use a large (preferably ceramic) bowl as it will rise considerably.
4. Every time the batter is used to make a product set aside 1 cup to be used as a"starter" for another batch.
5. Keep covered in the fridge (a pint jar works nicely).
6. To make it into a basic batter again, add another 2 cups flour& 2 cups warm water and allow to stand at room temp overnight It is now ready to use, but again reserve a cup of the starter.

Starter notes...

"This is a great starter. I have used it to make sour dough bread as well as adding it to my pizza dough recipe. The starter is at least 3 months old and just keeps getting better and better. I feed my starter about every 9 to 10 days, I add 1/2 cup warm water to the starter mixing well and then add 1 cup flour mixing well (ok to have some lumps) and let it sit out at room temp for an hour or two and then back to the fridge it goes until the next time."

"Separation of the sourdough starter is completely normal. The liquid on top is called "hooch." You can either pour it off, or stir in back into the starter (if your starter looks too thin, pour it off, too thick, stir it back in). If your sourdough is tinted pink or green, it is contaminated and needs to be thrown out."

Crust Ingredients

• 1 ¹⁄₂ cups sourdough starter
• 4 -5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cups flour (plus a little more or less to adjust consistency)

Crust Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 500°F.
2. Mix starter, 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, and flour together in a mixing bowl until it blends and forms a ball (add more or less flour to adjust consistency; if you get it too dry just add a little more starter).
3. Allow dough to rest for about 30 minutes (don't look for it to rise, just to get the dough where it is easier to roll).
4. Roll out mixture on parchment paper or a lightly floured surface until it fits the size of your pan, turning the dough as you roll (if you want a more even circle).
5. Par-bake the crust on a pizza stone or pizza sheet for about 7 minutes, then remove from oven.
6. Before topping your pizza with any sauce, cheese, or toppings, brush the top of the crust all over with remaining olive oil (as needed), using a pastry brush (this helps keep soggy moisture out of the crust as it bakes).
7. Top as desired and cook until browned and cheese is melted.
8. If you use certain vegetables as a topping (onions are the first thing that comes to mind) you might want to cook those about halfway before topping the pizza with them (or they will be too crunchy).

Zucchini Crust Pizza

From Nonni (Joyce Wagner)

3 cups shredded zucchini
3 eggs
1/3 cup flour
dash of salt
pam
preheat oven to 450 degrees

Whip eggs with flour until combined. Add zucchini and salt. Spray pizza pan with pam and and spread mixture evenly over it. Bake until no wet spots remain on top (about 10 mins) Either cool and freeze or reduce oven to 350 degrees, top the crust (tomatoes, tomato sauce, pesto, cheese,etc) and bake until cheese is bubbly.