I wanted to take the time to apologize to anyone who tried to access the site over the last couple of days and received an error message. My blog was transitioning into a new server and unfortunately it was down a lot more time than I had originally anticipated. Thankfully, everything migrated over smoothly and it is finally back up and running as normal. Just in time too, as I can now share this Quick and Easy Pizza from this week’s episode of Married and Hungry! I don’t know if you go through this or not, but sometimes I’m in the biggest mood for pizza and calling for delivery just isn’t always the best option. This pizza is amazing for something that comes out of your oven. The homemade dough is made with beer, which might sound a bit odd, but works so well for a fast pizza dough that comes together in no time at all, with not much kneading and no rising time at all! The toppings might be endless, but that just means you’ll have to make it as often as possible to try them all out!
Before we get started making the pizza dough it’s VERY important to move your oven rack to the lowest spot in the oven. Then, place a large pizza stone on the rack and preheat oven to 500 degrees F for at least 1 hour before making the pizza.
**Tip: Preheating your pizza stone for that long ensures a crispy crust on the pizza and allows it to cook as fast as possible! You can find great pizza stones in a lot of places these days without having to break the bank. Marshall’s or HomeGoods sometimes has them. I love this one from Amazon which I’ve had for years!**
Pour the beer into a saucepan and cook over low heat until very warm, about 120 to 130 degrees F. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, stir together 3 cups flour with yeast, sugar and salt.
**Note: You can also pour the beer into a measuring cup and warm it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. You want a very pale beer that isn’t very strong in taste. The beer works with the yeast to create a great dough that requires no rising time!**
Pour in the warm beer and stir until it comes together. Add in enough of the remaining flour, a bit at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides and is smooth and somewhat sticky. Knead on high for about 5 minutes.
Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead one or two times to shape it into a ball. Cut in half and cover one half with a kitchen towel. Working with one dough at a time, roll out on a lightly floured work surface to a large circle about ¼-inch thick. Transfer the dough onto a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal or semolina.
**Tip: You want to build the pizza on a pizza peel because since the stone is so hot in the oven, you want to be able to carefully and safely transfer the pizza onto the hot stone to cook.**
At this point you can top the rolled out dough with sauce and/or desired toppings of choice. You can go crazy and add whatever you like. You can go simply with just cheese and pepperoni or be adventurous and add an egg on top or avocado (after it cooks).
Since this is from the latest episode of Married and Hungry Jules made his pizza with red sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, pepperoni, bell pepper, red onion, olives, mushrooms and jalapeños.
Whatever toppings you choose, once you’re done, carefully transfer the pizza from the peel onto the hot pizza stone in a swift motion. Bake until golden brown and the cheese is bubbly, about 8 to 10 minutes.
For my pizza, I opted on sans sauce and used olive oil instead. I’ll eat any pizza, but sometimes I prefer it without sauce and olive oil in place of it, makes for such a simple and delicious pie. My pizza is based off this old post which I still hold near and dear to my heart.
I then topped it with a mix of mozzarella and fontina, and thinly sliced potatoes, hot Italian sausage, fresh rosemary, salt, pepper and a bit of Parmesan. If you’ve never had potato on pizza, I’m here to tell you that you have been missing out.
**Tip: Because the potato is going on raw on the pizza, you want to be sure it is sliced as thinly as possible. To achieve this, you can use a very sharp knife or a mandoline slicer. Just be careful because they can be somewhat scary to use!**
Once the pizzas are done you’ll want to carefully transfer them onto metal pizza pans. Allow to cool slightly before cutting and serving. You’ll have to take turns making each pizza, but the good news is that by the time you go to roll out your second pie, and top it, the first one will be ready to come out of the oven! They cook so fast, so you can crank them out as quick as possible!
It’s worth mentioning that if you’re scared of the beer in the dough or just don’t want to use it, you can of course just use water instead. The dough will still be great. It’ll just be a bit crispier, and a bit more flat, but that’s alright; all pizza is delicious pizza.
I hope you’ll give this a try the next time you’re in the mood for having pizza for dinner. It’s much faster and so much tastier than ordering delivery. If you want to make it fun, make a couple batches of dough and lay out a bunch of toppings and have everyone make their own pizza. It’s a pizza making party!
Quick and Easy Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups pale beer
- 3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 envelopes 4 ½ teaspoons pizza or instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup cornmeal or semolina flour
- toppings of choice
Instructions
- Move your oven rack to the lowest spot in the oven. Place a large pizza stone on and preheat oven to 500 degrees F for at least 1 hour.
- Pour the beer into a saucepan and cook over low heat until very warm, about 120 to 130 degrees F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, stir together 3 cups flour with yeast, sugar and salt. Pour in the warm beer and stir until it comes together. Add in enough of the remaining flour, a bit at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides and is smooth and somewhat sticky. Knead on high for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead one or two times to shape it into a ball. Cut in half and cover one half with a kitchen towel. Working with one dough at a time, roll out on a lightly floured work surface to a large circle about ¼-inch thick. Transfer the dough onto a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal or semolina. Top with sauce and/or desired toppings.
- Carefully transfer the pizza from the peel onto the hot pizza stone in a swift motion. Bake until golden brown and the cheese is bubbly, about 8 to 10 minutes. Carefully transfer the pizza onto a pizza pan. Allow to cool slightly before cutting and serving. Repeat with the remaining dough. Enjoy!