Quick and Easy Pizza Crust and Pizza Margherita for One

Now that I have the perfect pizza pan and a reliable pizza dough recipe, I can have homemade pizza that tastes great any time I want!

I made a Pizza Margherita for One today for my lunch! I found “Chef Rider’s” highly rated recipe for Quick and Easy Pizza Crust on allrecipes.com. I substituted honey for the sugar, but other than that I pretty much followed the original recipe.

Reading through some of the many reviews of this pizza crust, I discovered that you can tweak the original recipe quite a bit to make it the way you like it. Next time, I may try using some whole wheat flour for some of the white bread flour.

Other suggestions from reviewers included:

–         Use whole wheat bread flour, white whole wheat flour, or all purpose flour or a combination of flours

–         Give it a 2 hour rise

–         Split the dough in 2 for tw0 12-inch pizzas

–         Add garlic and herbs to the dough

–         Freeze it, defrost it in the refrigerator, and bring it to room temperature (for about 1 hour) before using

–         Use it to make breadsticks or calzone

–         Use 1/3 of the recipe to make a deep-dish pizza in a 9-inch pie tin

–         Two reviewers used the dough for cinnamon rolls

What really made the pizza work, though, is my new Lodge Cast Iron Pizza Pan. After reading all of the reviews on amazon, I decided to treat myself to one. I heated the pan up in the oven while I made the dough and pizza. I formed the pizza on parchment paper, which made it very easy to transfer the pizza to the hot pan. The crust was truly cooked perfectly! It was thin and crisp (the way I like it). If you can’t have a wood-burning brick pizza oven, I’m convinced this is the next best thing.

The recipe is supposed to make one 12-inch pizza, but I used my dough scraper/cutter to divide the dough into 5 equal pieces. I made a Pizza Margherita for One with one piece. I rubbed each of the remaining pieces with just a bit of olive oil and put each one in its own Ziploc bag to freeze.

I was skeptical of a pizza dough that was so quick, but I have to say the crust tasted pretty darn good. I suspect the dough that I froze will be even better after having time to develop more flavor.

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 Pizza Margherita for One

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Quick and Easy Pizza Crust

(Adapted from Chef Rider’s recipe on allrecipes.com)

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Reading the reviews, I got the impression that if you use the whole recipe to make one 12-inch pizza, the crust is a bit thick. If you prefer a thinner crust, you’ll want to divide it.

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(print the recipe)

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Enough for one 12-inch pizza, two thinner 12-inch pizzas, or 5 individual pizzas

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My new Lodge Cast Iron Pizza Pan

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2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (or one 1/4-ounce package)

1 teaspoon honey (or sugar)

1 cup warm water (110˚)

2 ½ cups (300g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

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1. Put a pizza pan (or pizza stone if that’s what you use) on a lower shelf in the oven and preheat to 450˚.

2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a medium bowl. Stir in the honey. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. The yeast will be bubbly.

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3. Stir in the flour, olive oil, and salt. Beat until well combined. Let it rest for 5 minutes.

4. Put the dough on a lightly floured bowl. The dough will be quite sticky. Flour your hands and knead the dough for just a few minutes.

5. Divide the dough at this point, if that’s your plan.

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I divided the dough into 5 pieces. Here are the four ready to be frozen:

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6. Put the dough on a piece of parchment. It’s quite sticky, so put flour on your hands to press it out. (You could also use a floured rolling pin, but I found it easiest to use my hands.)

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7. Top the pizza the way you want.*

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8. Use the parchment to lift the pizza and place it on the hot pizza pan.

9. Bake until done. My thin individual pizza took 11 minutes. A larger, thicker pizza could take 15 – 20 minutes.

10. Let the pizza rest for 5 minutes before serving.

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Resting for 5 minutes

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*Toppings for my Pizza Margherita for One

–         Spread a bit of olive oil over the crust

–         Add mozzarella cheese (about ¾ ounce)

–         Top with slices of tomatoes (1 plum tomato)

–         Add basil

–         Sprinkle with a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

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 Thin, crisp crust – just the way I like it!