Thea Voula's pizza
A lovely thinnish crust pizza with a spicy kick, from our Aunt Voula
Servings: 4 pizza dough
Ingredients
For the dough
- 3 3/4 teaspoons (12 grams) Instant dry yeast
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) warm water
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1 3/4 cup (430 mL) water
- 3 eggs large
- 3/4 cup (175 mL) Ginger Ale
- 1 tbsp salt
- 3/4 cup (180 mL) olive oil
- 8 cups (1200 grams) all purpose flour
- 1/3 - 1/2 cup (50-75 grams) all purpose flour if needed
- 3 tbsp (45 mL) olive oil
For the toppings (for each pizza)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) pizza sauce
- 100 grams sliced pepperoni
- 1/4 cup pickled hot peppers optional
- 1 red or green bell pepper slivered
- 227 grams white mushrooms sliced
- 2 cups (180 grams) grated mozzarella cheese
Instructions
For the dough:
- In a small bowl combine the instant dry yeast, the 1/4 cup warm water and the sugar. Set aside for approximately 5 minutes until you see bubbles forming on the surface.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the 1 3/4 cup water, the eggs, the ginger ale, the salt, olive oil, and 8 cups of all purpose flour. Mix well by hand and then pour in the yeast mixture. Knead the dough by hand for approximately 7 - 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can always knead the dough in a stand mixer, using the bread hook attachment, but start kneading it by hand first, for a head start. Add more flour as required to create a not too sticky, and not too stiff dough. The dough shouldn't be sticking to the side of your bowl. You might have to add up to 1/2 cup (75 grams) extra flour. See video here. Add the 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the dough and mix until combined. Will look and feel greasy. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise in a draft free place for 60 minutes.
- This is enough dough for 4 large pizzas. Divide the dough into 4, (it should be approximately 500-550 grams, per dough) and use only the dough you need. You can wrap the rest of the dough in plastic wrap, place in a freezer bag and store in the freezer for another day. If you prefer to divide the dough into 3 pizzas, each dough should weigh approximately 700-750 grams.
- Roll out the pizza dough until it is about 1/2 an inch thick. Place it onto an olive oil greased pizza pan.
- Top the dough with pizza sauce, and then the rest of the ingredients, finishing with the cheese.
- Bake in a 425 degree Farenheit preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe makes enough dough for 4 large pizzas. If you will not be using all of the dough at once, you simply portion it out before the rising period, or you can portion it out after it has risen. Any dough you would like to keep for future can be wrapped in plastic wrap, placed in a freezer bag and saved for another day. To use your frozen dough, simply remove it from the plastic bag and wrap, place in a large bowl and allow to defrost and rise for an hour or so..