Pizza Dough

The recipe of this made-from-scratch dough will make about 5 personal pizzas or one large, family size, so adjust the quantity of ingredients accordingly if you want to serve more or less people.

Ingredients:

• 500g of unbleached bread flour (you can use any other flour for bread, but we recommend unbleached and organic)
• 350g of water warm water
• A pinch of Himalayan salt
• 2g or one packet of organic instant yeast

As with all bread dough recipes, the ingredients are always the same four, but we always recommend going organic and more natural for the superior quality and health benefits. As Nutrisystem always emphasizes, it’s better to invest some time in search of what’s good for you. In this case, better flour and fresh organic ingredients would do the trick. Nutrisystem is amazing with helping with everyday life food choices and substitutions for something healthier than just plain unbleached all-purpose flour.

How to make pizza dough:

Take a large bowl (wooden or plastic, non-metal) and combine all the ingredients. There is one very important tip – you want to make sure that your dough is not cold, but reaches about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, so use warm water that is about 90 degrees, just warm, not hot. As you make this dough, you will be able to adjust your water temperature in the future without thinking, it all comes with experience. Exact measurement is also not needed; you can feel the warmth of the dough by the touch of your hand.

While pizza dough is always made of 4 ingredients, slow fermentation process and rising is what gives the best texture and flavor, so don’t rush. Allow your dough plenty of development and rising at room temperature and then a healthy amount of time in the refrigerator. Trust us, you want that slow process for the proper creation of alcohol and organic acids, which is what happens when yeast ferments and what makes that pizza dough so good, moist, and chewy.

Once the dough is thoroughly combined and mixed, leave it in the clean greased bowl and cover it with a clean towel. After about 30 minutes, fold the dough, cover it back up, and place the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, but up to 24.This is traditional way, but we often recommend letting the dough rise, then get folded, and rise again a few times before placing it in the fridge.

After the refrigeration the dough should be ready for division into parts and work. How you go about dividing the dough is up to you – 5 equal parts or no division at all for shared family pizza pie.

Shape the divided dough into round shapes while working on a lightly floured surface. After you achieve the desired shape, cover it with plastic and let sit for about an hour.

Next step is preheating the oven to 500 degrees (550 maximum). If you are using pizza stone (and you should), preheat it too with the oven, otherwise preheat whatever dish you are using to bake the pizza on. While the oven is heating up, shape the pizza dough one last time, thin it out and stretch. You can even twirl it in the air as you see done in commercials. It should be elastic and easily shaped. Then pile the toppings of your choice on top of it and place it in the oven.

We can’t emphasize enough the importance of pizza stone. When you think about where pizzas came from, you will immediately visualize Italy and its magnificent stone or brick ovens. Try to get as close to that as you can – pizza stones, bricks, or special pizza surfaces in coal burning grills. 

Your pizza is going to be done when the crust is just turning golden and so is the bottom of the pizza. If you like your pie crunchy, leave it in for a bit longer. Monitor it while baking and take it out to cool for a few minutes after it gets cooked.

Pizza Sauce ingredients:

• 1-2 small cans of crushed organic tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of organic oil (olive, grapeseed, sunflower, or avocado)
• 1 tablespoon of Harissa Spread (optional and based on taste preference)
• A pinch of Himalayan salt
• A pinch of fresh black pepper

Making pizza sauce is very simple, but do take time to make it instead of just using store bought generic concoction.

First, take a medium size bowl and mix crushed tomatoes and Harissa spread, if you are using it. Otherwise add a spoonful of organic ketchup to the tomato mass. Mix it together and press all the lumps. Add oil of choice, salt, pepper, and whisk it all together.

Once you are done with the sauce, put it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. The longer you let it sit there, the more flavor it’ll have. You can store the sauce in the fridge for up to 5 days or keep frozen for a month.

Toppings:

Those are up to you entirely, but we do recommend high quality, organic, fresh ingredients.

Go for something less elaborate, especially if you are new at this. Seasonal produce that comes from your local grocery stores or farmer’s markets is best.

Traditional ingredients include a variety of meats and peperoni, mushrooms, onions, peppers, cheeses of choice, olives, and sometimes pineapple, arugula, and other fantastic creations.

Keep in mind that if you don’t want a soggy crust, you should use juicy ingredients with caution and sparingly. You can always add some later, so don’t rush to overload your pie right away.

Enjoy and cheers to pizza night!