We added a Fontana Forni Italian pizza oven when we renovated our backyard to include an outdoor kitchen. It was the best move because we use the oven all the time. Now that I’m retired, I want to learn to use it to cook other food. Fontana’s website has great recipes to try.
This past weekend, we hosted a pool and pizza party for my niece and her littles. They love coming to Aunt Missy and Uncle Do’s house to swim! I made my favorite easy recipe for pizza dough, and the children enjoyed making their own pizzas. Oliver was a pro, and we told him that when we get too old to make pizza, we’ll make him the official pizza maker in the family.
Pizza going into the oven
Oliver waiting for his pizza
We’ve tried several different methods of either preparing our own dough or buying it, but I’ve ended up settling on this easy recipe from Patio Pizzeria.
Classic Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups bread flour I use King Arthur
- 1 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- 2 tsp instant yeast or bread machine yeast
- 1 cup lukewarm water, plus more if needed
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 TBL olive oil
- 2 TBL minced garlic about 2 bulbs
- 2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir the flour, salt, and yeast together
- Combine the water, honey, and olive oil and stir into the flour mixture until the dough comes together.
- If the dough is dry, add 1 TBL of water at a time until the dough is just moist
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface.
- With heel of your hand or your knuckles knead the dough, adding flour as necessary to keep it from sticking until smooth, not sticky, and springs back like a pillow when you make an indentation in the dough with your knuckle. This will take about 4 minutes.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size about an hour. Immediately use, or refrigerate for up to three days before using.
- An optional addition I like to use to make the crust garlic and herb flavored: In a small skillet over medium heat on the stovetop, saute 2 TBL of minced garlic in TBL of olive oil until golden. Stir in 2 tsp of dried Italian herb seasoning. Let cool, then add the garlic mixture to the dough with the water, honey, and olive oil. Proceed with recipe as directed.
A man and his pizza
We divided the dough into four smaller pizzas, or you can make one large pizza. This dough is so easy to make, and you can easily make pizzas whenever the craving sets in!
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.
