Individual Pizzas!

Oh hello there. Thanks for returning for the third official post of BCBites! The other night, we (Charlotte and Byrne, of course!) made pizza for dinner. Individual pizzas that is. It was incredibly easy and absolutely delicious. We have both been talking about making it again ever since. Shared with two more friends, it was the perfect meal. The dough takes a little while to rise, but we entertained ourselves in Byrne's backyard, inventing the newest Olympic sport. Expect to see intense games of Xiamabough, a four-square type game with a tennis ball, in the 2012 Summer Games!

Pizza Dough

adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook - edited by Ruth Reichl

makes four individual pizzas

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons or 1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading (we needed to add quite a bit extra in order to get the right consistency)

3/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees Fahrenheit)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, plus extra for greasing bowl

Stir together yeast, 1 tablespoon flour and warm water in a measuring cup and let stand until surface appears creamy, about 5 minutes.

This is our yeast-water-flour solution. Sort of gross-looking.

Stir together 1 1/4 cups flour and salt in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture and oil. Stir until smooth. Stir in remaining flour (about 1/2 cup) so dough comes away from sides of bowl. The dough will be wetter than other pizza doughs you have made. Knead dough on a dry surface with lightly floured hands until smooth, soft and elastic, about 8 minutes. Grease a bowl with olive oil and place dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise for 1 1/4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. When dough has risen, divide into four parts (Charlotte and Byrne made two larger individual pizzas). Roll out each ball of dough into a circle, .5 cm- 1 cm thick. Top with desired toppings and bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool pizzas until they can be comfortably handled, then cut into slices and enjoy!

Charlotte made a classic pizza with cheese, tomato sauce and red peppers. Byrne opted for a thinner, less cheesy pizza with artichoke sauce, olives and no tomato sauce. Both were enjoyed by everybody. Below is Byrne's pizza because Charlotte's disappeared too quickly to photograph!