On another thread, a couple of posters mentioned that they make their own dough. I've tried several different recipes over the years, but found that the frozen Bridgeford loaves of bread (3 in pkg) were just as good as, if not better than, any homemade recipe I ever tried. Easier, too. The hardest part is remembering to take it out of the freezer in the morning so that it's ready to use at dinnertime.

Froo froo and Conrad, would you care to post your recipes?

I started with recipe of Wolfgang Puck's and made some adjustments. It has Italian herbs and a bit of honey in the dough.

CA Lori, funny you should ask as my dough is rising as I type. . Remember, I stated DH requests I make it every Sunday. Anywho, it's difficult to give exact measurements, but I'll try. This is a basic dough my mother told me about decades ago. BTW, we're of Italian anchestry and in her generation they didn't measure relying more on touch and sight.

The following will yield one long sheet pizza which equals 8 generous pieces (we make ours on a rectangular cookie sheet that has sides to it). DH asked me to cut down the middle of the dough once I panned it so there would be two square pizzas (and thus...more crusts ). Of course, you can use one lg. round pan instead.

3 C. flour (I used unbleached)
1 pkg. yeast (reg. or rapid rise)
about 1/2/C. or more water (to test yeast it should be the hotness of baby bath water) plus more water when mixing the dough if needed
a bit of salt (I go light as I am trying to watch my BP)
3 Tbls. EVOO (extra virgin olive oil for those who don't watch Racheal Ray )

Test the yeast in warm water w/ a tiny bit of sugar and stir. Then, set aside till it foams approx. 10 mins. or so. If it doesn't foam much it's either expired yeast, you forgot the bit of sugar or your water was too hot.

Mix the yeast water w/ the evoo and salt in a well of flour in a lg. bowl. I use a lg. spoon at first and then knead with my fists adding more water and/or more flour if needed to make a dough that's plyable, but not sticky and well mixed. I let the dough rise in a warm place (mom used above the fridge, I use the microwave on off) till doubled. Punch down and let rest a bit. Roll out on floured board (some use cornmeal) for even thickness and place in a greased pan. This is when I cut the dough in half, but it's not a must. I also pierce the dough w/a fork to lessen the occurance of air bubbles. I bake the dough on a low oven rack in a preheated 450 degree oven for approx. 15-20 mins. to brown the bottom but not so long as to really brown the top and then remove from oven and spread the sauce and toppings. BTW, this is a process I devised over the years to please my DH..mom never did this. I then bake it on an upper rack for another 20 mins. because DH likes his crust crispy.


My sauce (assuming I'm not using leftover from scratch spaghetti sauce) consists of two 8 oz. cans of tomato sauce, crushed garlic (to taste..we love the flavor so therefore use about three good sized cloves), black pepper/salt (a bit), fennel seeds ( I love the suggestion of Italian sausage w/o the fat), fresh cut basil (lots), oregano and sometimes add dried onion flakes (tho my mother never did). Toppings consist of mozzerella, diced green or red pepper, baby portabella or button mushroom slices (turkey pepperoni if DH requests it), parmesana romano cheese, grated. I add red pepper flakes to mine when it's done. I sometimes add browned Italian sausage (if I didn't have a meat sauce premade). You can add toppings to suit your taste.

I hope I've been of help. Please post back if you follow this recipe as I'd like to hear your thoughts.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Froo Froo,

Thanks for the recipe, FrooFroo. I'll give it a try soon, as well.

You're welcome FFG. Let me know how it came out.

No pizza yet???

Yes!! It was delicious. Since I needed more details, I watched the video by Chef John for Wolfgang Puck's famous pizza dough recipe. I also checked out Chef John's pizza sauce.

Froo Froo, your recipe is identical to Puck's. Instead of making 4 small pizzas, I used half the dough to make a 12" pizza to fit my pizza stone. I froze the other half. Maybe I'll have more questions when I go to thaw that second half (which I'll probably make sometime within the next 2 weeks).

For the sauce, I made my usual 8-oz can of tomato sauce to which I add a ts. of oregano and some basil. It's easy and it's good. I try to season that sauce at least an hour before using it to let the flavors blend. There's enough sauce to do two 12" pizzas.

This dough recipe was much better than those frozen Bridgeford bread loaves or other dough recipes that I've tried in the past. Of course, nothing beats the ease of using the frozen bread loaves, but after I make my own dough a couple of times, it'll seem like less of a chore.

Thanks again. I'll be making pizza more often now

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CA Lori,

Thanks for the feedback, Lori. Glad you were happy with the results. Truth be known, in my early married years the thought of working w/ yeast terrified me. Once I mastered the dough, and bread baking in general, I felt quite silly. You're right..there's nothing like homemade. You didn't say you added fresh chopped garlic to your sauce..did you? I think it makes the sauce along w/ fresh basil and I love fennel seeds too. BTW, you KNOW what tonight's dinner was don't you?

Hamburgers!!!!! Just kidding! I use dried herbs and no, I haven't added fresh garlic to the canned tomato sauce, but I'll try to remember to put that in next time. Thanks for you input! I appreciate it.

Lori, I can't stress enough how much garlic adds to the pizza sauce (I know...spoken like a true Italian ). Also, fresh chopped basil makes a huge difference too and the fennel seeds gives you the taste of Italian sausage w/o the fat. Fresh grated cheese is also a plus. Try them in and on the sauce and let me know what you think.

I always use fresh cheese. Can't stand that green can of Parmesan!! I buy a block of mozzarella, cut it in fourths, and shred one quarter for each 12-inch pizza. I freeze the other three quarters for grating in the future.

I also use fresh mushrooms, sometimes precooked, sometimes not. I steam my chopped green pepper for a minute or two in the M/W. We also like green onions, ripe olives, salami or sausage. Sure beats the roughly $17 that I pay for a Round Table Pizza.

I promise to add garlic and fennel to my next sauce. Maybe not sage because I usually don't have that on hand.

Whoops! Did I say sage? If so, please NO sage!

Pretty much use Froo Froo's dough recipe. Comes together in no time in stand mixer. For sauce... have to say I like Don Pepino's... tastes like pizza shop to me. I like to make what I call a "garbage" pie... whatever ya have or like on top... onions, fresh mushrooms, meat (salami, pepperoni, left-over meatballs), peppers, black olives (real ones, not canned, if possible). I drizzle and spread generous amount of nice olive oil over doough once shaped... recently just do it on a hunka parchment paper on top of a pizza pan (with holes in it) to avoid shaking corn meal all over oven from peel.

Preheat oven to as high as it will go... something like 500 for mine. Probably cook about 15 minutes or so. Cook about halfway before generously covering with shredded mozz. Would love to have melted but not browned cheese on top, but kinda thing normal kitchen oven just can't do that??