Sister Johnson's No-Fail Pizza Crust

I love this pizza dough recipe and it hasn't failed me yet. In fact, it seems to get better the more I use it! I hope you think so too.

Pizza Crust
by Melanie Johnson

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Ingredients for 1 pizza(approx. size 16 inch round):

1 cup warm (room temp.) water
1 T yeast (or one packet)
Sprinkle of sugar

Let sit while doing the next step. In a large bowl sift or stir together:

2 cups flour
1 t sugar
1 t salt
1 T olive oil


Ingredients for 3 pizza's for a party or a big family:

3 cups warm (room temp.) water
3 T yeast (or one packet)
Sprinkle of sugar

Let sit while doing the next step. In a large bowl sift or stir together:

6 cups flour
1 T sugar
1 T salt
3 T olive oil

Add the now activated foamy yeast to the flour mixture. Stir until well-blended. Add just a little flour at a time until the dough isn't sticking to the bowl. Flour the counter well, dump out the dough and knead for 5-8 min. Knead the dough only until it is smooth and a few air bubbles start to appear. Add additional four only if needed to prevent sticking to your hands and counter top. At this stage, less flour is better than more.

It is OK to use right now OR the dough can rise for about 30-45 min., punch down and roll out into pizza shape. If you let it rise the dough is a little softer. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin just to the size of the pan. Spray the pan with a no-stick spray. Lightly flour the pan, with cornmeal if desired.

Lightly four the 1/2 dough circle. Fold in half. Place the 1/2 circle in pan against the edges and unfold. About 1/4 - 1/2 cup tomato/pizza/pasta sauce is spread on top to the near edges. Then add the grated mozzerella/cheddar/colby jack/monterrey cheeses of your choice. Add other toppings as desired: meat toppings include pepperoni, ham, sausage, hamburger etc... vegetable toppings include mushrooms, peppers, olives, artichoke, spinach, pineapple, etc... as you like!

Bake in the oven for 16-20 min. Carefully check the bottom of the crust for the crustiness that you may like. Let stand 2 min. before slicing. I slice on a breadboard counter top never on the pan. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Just a Different Type of Pan Pizza

In the picture my crust is traditional and not folded up because my husband wanted it that way. It seems like a fun idea to do it like they suggested below.

I used Jay's Signature Pizza Crust recipe from allrecipes.com for my crust but buying from the stor is probably easier but I like the tast of this crust recipe so for me it's worth it.

I discovered this recipe from one of my friend's Shelfari pages of all places. It turned out well and pretty fun to do with my kids so I thought I'd share it!

Buy 1 pizza crust (in the cans--like pillsbury biscuits come in)
1 pound of ground beef (or sausage)
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 package mushrooms (I used fresh, optional)
1 container blue cheese (or another kind of cheese like feta or mozzerella)

I use a cookie sheet and put tin foil on it and grease/oil the tin foil.

Lay the pizza crust on the tin foil
Put the cooked ground beef, chopped onions, peppers, and mushrooms on the beef/pizza crust
Curl / fold the sides of the pizza crust up over the meat and other toppings (will not completely cover them)
(the middle should not be covered by crust)

Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes

Top with blue cheese(as desired or you can substitute another cheese like mozzerella) and eat!

Make it kid-friendly:

Use beef and sliced american cheese.

For extra taste:
I brush olive oil on the folded up part of the crust and sprinkle with parm cheese.

Oh, and you could substitute the beef for cut up (cooked) steak pieces and it's really good also.

As always, with pizza, you have lots of options! Enjoy!

Pizza Zucchini

I though a lot of you who may have had wonderful gardens this year perhaps planted them with zucchini which tends to grow and grow. So, I thought I'd share this fun, yummy recipe for you to try if you want.

Pizza Zucchini

2-3 medium zucchini, sliced
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
salt, pepper and garlic to taste

In a skillet, melt butter. Add zucchini and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder to your liking. Stir in tomato sauce and simmer for 10 min. stirring occasionally. Stir in half of cheese until melted. Place zucchini in a greased 2 qt. baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min.
Hope you like it!