We make pizza often--I use a pizza stone, which is preheated. I put my crust on the heated stone, pre-bake it (usually 425) for 8-10 minutes before topping it with sauce, cheese and veggies. Turns out great! No one ever wants to order pizza out--they just want homemade pizza. I don't convect....never felt the need to do so.

Do you have a recipe for your dough, Linda??

I definitely need a pizza stone...

This recipe for "Grandmother Bread" is what I like to use for pizza crust, rolls, and bread. There is also a recipe for a "party sandwich ring" that is great.

http://chickensintheroad.com/c...

For years I tried making pizza with a good crust, and even with classes, pizza stones, spraying water, I couldn't come up with the right thing. A couple of years ago, I came across a recipe for crust and sauce that completely blew me away it worked so great. I also picked up a new pan which could be part of the success, but who knows. The dough freezes beautifully as does the sauce and it turns out great all the time. Why couldn't I have found this years ago??? The dough makes enough for 4----12inch pizzas as we like thin crust. If you are interested, I will post the recipe. It doesn't need a stone or spraying water

Karen, I'd certainly love to have that recipe !!

Me too. I have the stone and use it and a shallow pan of water in the oven when baking artisan bread. I love a chewy crust. Quite of ten the crust you buy is more like a crunchy bread. I think olive oil gives it that chewy texture. We get Papa Murphy's thin crust but it is too thin for my money. Like a piece of cardboard. But hubby loves it.

I just spent 20 minutes trying to enter the pizza dough recipe I created, had it all ready, was proofing it, and hit the back space button and lost it all, I'm so p .....sed off I will have to cool down and try to do it again later. That has happend to me a few times now.

Tom, that's happened to me a few times too, so maddening, especially when it's a long post.

tveguy3 said:I just spent 20 minutes trying to enter the pizza dough recipe I created, had it all ready, was proofing it, and hit the back space button and lost it all, I'm so p .....sed off I will have to cool down and try to do it again later. That has happend to me a few times now.

You might want to post your two cents to this thread on the Site Forum:

The thread "Timed Out ?" in Site Talk forum

btw, for me, using the back button on other secure sites doesn't cause any problems.

Smiles,
Lyn

If you immediately hit control Z it will come back. Arlene (pirl) told me that and it has saved many a longer comment.

Here is my favorite "go to" pizza recipe. This dough makes a little more than I need for my pizza stone, so I usually get about 4-5 breadsticks as well. It is not a really super thin crust, but holds up well to a variety of toppings. I usually make mine in my bread machine to mix the dough, but I'll include regular instructions here. This makes a 14-16" crust.

Speedy dough:

1 cup warm water
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp. date sugar or brown sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 pkg active dry yeast (I use rapid-rise)
3 cups bread flour (may need additional flour)

In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar. With a wooden spoon, beat in the egg and as much of the warm water as necessary to form a soft, but not sticky, dough.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. With floured hands, knead the dough 10 times. Cover the dough with a clean towel and let rest 30-45 minutes.

Dough is now ready to be rolled or stretched into shape.

NOTE: I sometimes substitute 1/2 cup of semolina flour for the bread flour--gives it a little more body. This dough also works well in a bread machine on the dough cycle (even the short dough cycle). If using the bread machine, let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes before rolling it out.

Here is the recipe for Ricotta Meat Balls. He also has one Chicken Meatballs with Sun-Dried Tomatoes. I think I like the spices of this one better. Here is the annotated recipe for what I made.

RICOTTA MEATBALLS
Prep 40 Min Bake 22 Min

1 large yellow onion, minced (1 cup)
1/4 cup minced garlic
3 TB olive oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 # ground beef, 80 percent lean
1 cup grana Padano cheese, grated
1 15 oz carton whole milk ricotta cheese
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
Marinara sauce.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 shallow baking pans with parchment; set aside

2. In a large skillet cook onion and garlic in 1 TB olive oil 8 minutes or until translucent. Let cool

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine eggs, ground beef, grana Padano, ricotta, panko parsley, basil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Add onion mixture. Using your hands, mix to combine. shape into 2" balls. Place on prepared pans.

4. Brush with remaining 2 TB olive oil. Bake 22 minutes or until just cooked through (165 degrees)

5. Meanwhile, in a sauce pan bring marinara sauce to boiling. Add meatballs; coat with sauce. Simmer 5 minutes. Serve Warm. Makes 65 meat balls.

Notes:
I found that working the hamburger tends to make it tough. I would be tempted to let your food processor mix the stuff quickly. The chef also suggested just coating your hands in olive oil and form the balls like that to coat them with the olive oil. I would set the meatballs on something like a broiler pan to elevate them out of the grease, or buy 96% lean burgher. Couldn't find grana Padana so used a good parmesan instead.

I wasn't overly impressed with the flavor. He also has chicken Meatballs with Sun-Dried Tomatoes. I like the spices he uses here better. He used 1 1/2# ground chicken for this with a few other differences.

1 TB chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1 tsp dried marjoram, crushed

I'm a little late but I believe adding a little butter makes the chocolate shiny but I will as my wife who makes chocolate cand a lot

As far as pizza though I use the recipe that came with my bread machine and never had trouble with it

I made a Cottage Cheese Cake today, I haven't made one in years, and it's really good. It's a recipe my family brought back from Germany.

Sounds delicious!!!

That sounds really interesting, Tom.

Tom, I'd love to see the recipe! Sounds like it would be nice and moist and dense- just the kinda cake I love.

Cottage Cheese Cake

Crust:
1 Cup Flour
½ tsp. Baking Powder
½ Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons Real Butter
1 egg
1/8 tsp. salt
Blend above together (I do this in a food processer) and press into the bottom and sides of a 9 x 9 sq. baking dish

Filling:
1 pint of creamed cottage cheese (I like small curd)
½ cup whipping cream
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons melted real butter
1 Tablespoon corn starch
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.
Dissolve the cornstarch in the cream and let sit. Then in a large bowl, beat the eggs with sugar until they are nice and fluffy and lemon yellow, about 2 minutes with an electric mixer. Add the corn starch and cream mixture and vanilla, and beat that in. Then add the melted butter, salt, and cottage cheese and mix this together with a big spoon.
Pour the filling into the crust and bake at 325 for approx. an hour or until the center is firm. Let cool and enjoy.

Optional:
If you like raisins, you can add a half cup of them in the filling when you add the last ingredients. You will want to soak them for a while in warm water to make them plump and moist. I like to use golden raisins in this, and I like them soaked in brandy for about an hour!

This recipe came from Germany when my aunt Shirley’s Mother-in-law Pauline’s family migrated here in the early 1800’s.

Sounds yummy and easy to make.