Homemade Pizza Dough

One of the first things I wanted to make with my new KitchenAid mixer was homemade pizza dough. It seems this is a good first step with working with yeast, and that is definitely something I will be pursuing with my mixer. Pretty much everything that Annie makes on Annie's Eats looks fantastic, but I've particularly been inspired by her yeast baking, so I went with her dough recipe. I was impressed by how easy this dough was, and I think I was able to learn enough with this recipe to help me with future yeast recipes (my oven, preheating, is too hot for the rising dough to proof on top of it, but if I put a large wooden chopping board on it prior to the dough bowl, it is perfect). I made this with half deluxe pizza toppings (pepperoni, mushrooms and bell peppers) and the other half with bell peppers and tomatoes. I think the deluxe side turned out much better, as the best homemade pizza has dry toppings, in my opinion. I'm looking forward to experimenting with lots more flavors & toppings in the future. I followed Annie's recipe exactly, so I won't repeat it here.

Spicy Southwestern Pizza

I have always had some difficulty with homemade pizza. I have a hard time getting the crust thin enough to crisp up, even when I was using my pizza stone, plus I could never get the toppings to taste as good as ordering from Domino's. When I was at Trader Joe's this week, I picked up a whole wheat pizza crust on a whim, and decided to grab a pack of their Chipotle Chicken Sausage to try and make a pizza out of it. My inspiration was a Southwestern pizza that our friends like to order when we are visiting their house out of town from a pizza parlor that we don't have (Garlic Jim's). This pizza was fantastic. I finally got a crisp crust by using very little sauce (salsa in this case) and drying the toppings well in paper towels before placing on the pizza. The three different levels of spice from the salsa, peppers and chipotle made for a complex heat. I will definitely make this again.

Spicy Southwestern Pizza

1 Whole Wheat Pizza crust

3/4 cup red salsa (non-chunky) or enough to very lightly coat the crust

1 cup thawed frozen corn kernels

1 cup drained & rinsed black beans

1.5 cups reduced fat Mexican Cheese blend

1 medium tomato, seeded & diced

1 Anaheim pepper, diced

2 links Chipotle Chicken Sausage, sliced

.5 cup cheddar cheese

Stretch/toss pizza dough to 12" round. Place on lightly floured baking stone. Spread with a very thin layer of salsa, leaving about an inch at the sides. Top with corn and beans (it helps to dry these in towels before adding to the crust). Top evenly with the reduced fat cheese. On top of the cheese, spread the tomatoes, diced pepper and sausage slices evenly. Bake for about 8 minutes, then remove and top with the 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Bake for 2-3 minutes more or until crust is golden. Makes 8 1 slice servings

Nutrition Information for 1 slice: Calories: 283.6, Fat: 9.6g (4.1 Sat, .2 Poly, .7 Mono), Carbs: 37.3g, Fiber: 5 g