Four Cheese pizza
recipe makes two large pizzas and is easily halved
2 oz cake yeast (I expect powdered would work, too)
1 c warm water
3-4 c. flour
1 lb each swiss cheese, mozerrella, and cheddar
parmesan
oregano and garlic or salt and pepper
Italian seasoning blend
2 cans pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce
Optional additional toppings
1 lb fried sausage (loose or in small chunks) (pizza sausage if it available, othrwise 1/2 each pork sausage and ground beef)
1/2 lb sliced pepperoni
finely chopped onions
mushrooms (3 cans or 8 oz sliced fresh)
green peppers
green and/or black olives
etc.
Mix water, yeast, and flour. Add enough flour to make a firm dough. Let rise til double (about 1/2 hr in warm kitchen or top of heated oven), Slice swiss cheese thinly and shred the mozerrella and cheddar, Slice other vegetables as needed and fry sausage if needed. Greese pizza pan(s) or jelly role pan(s) (the cookie sheets with a rim) or spray generously with olive oil. and sprinkle with salt and pepper or garlic and oregano.
When dough is raised, divide in half and spread out on pans with floured hands, working from the center outwards and spreading as evenly as possible. Fill any gaps that form. In some conditions, the dough will continue to rise and get puffy: if this occurs while preparing the pizza, use a fork to stab the dough every couple of inches to prevent excessive bubbling.
Tear swiss cheese into pieces roughly 2" and spread over the pizza dough. Spread pizza sauce thinly over pizza. Sprinkle Italian seasonings over the sauce. Sprinkle sasage over pizza, then parmesan cheese, then vegetables as desired, then mozzerella and cheddar (or layer cheddar under the vegetables), then pepperoni. If halves of the pizza are to have different ingredients (our family is mixed on the kinds of olives we like), reserve a few to put on top to mark the sides.
Bake pizza(s) at 400 degrees about 20 minutes til crust is done, cheese it bubbly, and toppings are not too soupy.
Cooking and serving tips:
ReplyDeleteFor a lighter, puffier crust, add a little sugar to the water.
Great for Super Bowl and other parties: For a party/snack pizza that will be cut into smaller pieces, use about 1/2 of each topping or double the dough and spread toppings more thinly - just enough for a couple of pieces of each topping per slice. This will make pizza easier to handle fur munching and not dissuade guests from tasting all the other available treats.
Transfer pizza to a cutting board or large serving trey before cutting to protect pans from damage: loosen pizz crust from sides and bottom of pan, place pan over trey and lower near end, grab with tonds and hold as pan as pulled out from under pizza.