I began thinking about how they stretch the dough in the pizza places. I wasn’t going to throw it in the air like they did (and I’m still not), but I borrowed a few concepts from them. First, when you take you dough to your (floured) workspace, punch the round ball flat. Then, pick up the dough and toss it from hand to hand. You will start to feel it extend. Once the edges of the dough are overlapping your fingertips, grab the dough by the edges with both hands and work the dough while turning it clockwise. It will start to stretch significantly. At this point, I put it back on my floured work surface. It should be relatively circle-like. If not, practice, practice! From here, I work the excess dough in the center toward the edge, using my fist. Again work in a clockwise rotation. This will give you a nice, thick crust all the way around the edge of your pizza, with the classic thinner crust in the middle.

It took me a dozen or two pizzas to figure out this technique, and I was thrilled when I went to make Barbeque Chicken Pizza the other night and my dough came out perfectly. (Fine. Relatively perfect.) There are still a few things I need to do differently, however. I need to use 1.5 lbs. of dough for 1 large pizza. Not 1 lb. Not two. 1.5. I think that’s the magic number. And I need to cook the pizza on the bottom rack of my oven, so I get that crispy crust I like. Then, it truly will be perfect.

Now, go make Barbeque Chicken Pizza, and try your hand and making your own dough.

Barbeque Chicken Pizza

You will need:

1.5 lbs. of your favorite pizza dough
½ bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce
1 lb. cooked chicken, cut into chunks
1 lb. Monterey jack or fontina cheese, grated
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and set oven rack to the bottom. Roll out dough as specified above and place on a large pizza pan. (This particular recipe was made using a metal pizza pan. Adjust your baking time and temperature accordingly if you use stone.) Prebake it for 2-3 minutes, just to help set the crust. Remove dough from oven. Punch down the middle if it rose.

Spread the crust with barbeque sauce. Top with grated cheese.

Toss the chicken chunks with remaining barbeque sauce and spread evenly on top of cheese.

Add diced tomatoes and sliced onions.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and the crust is beginning to brown.

I also played around with the crust a bit. Dough made with white flour felt too, well, white. It was almost tasteless when put up against the toppings. One hundred percent whole wheat dough is too dense and doesn’t roll well, so I made a dough using both wheat and white flour, and it came out just right. You can taste the nuttiness of the wheat, but it’s not like eating a rock.

So, here’s what you do.

Ingredients:

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, ground (if you can’t find sweet sausage, buy mild, and mix it, by hand, with about ½ cup brown sugar)
2 cups broccoli
red pepper flakes (optional)
1 recipe Whole Wheat dough
1 recipe Creamy Garlic Parmesan sauce

You’ll need to prepare the pizza dough first as it takes time to rise and rest. Once it’s done, make the sauce. Afterwards, cook sausage in a large skillet until done, and, in a separate pan, sauté broccoli until warmed, but still bright green. (I like to add red pepper flakes to my broccoli.) When all ingredients are prepared, roll your dough into desired size. At this point, you can also prebake your crust for about 5 minutes, to give it an extra crispness. Then spread the sauce evenly across the dough, and top with broccoli and sausage. You can, if you wish, sprinkle Parmesan over the top of the pizzas, but it really isn’t needed. Bake in a 350º oven for 10-12 minutes.

Whole Wheat Dough:

1 cup lukewarm water
1 tbsp. honey
1 package active dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 tbsp. butter or oil

Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl and let sit for five minutes. Stir in salt, then gradually add flours, mixing in as much as you can with a stiff spoon. Then, turn onto a floured surface and kneed in the rest until you have a smooth, yet stiff, ball. With melted butter, or oil, brush surface of dough. Place in a large bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until double, about one hour. Divide dough in two equal portions and roll into desired shape. Makes 2 medium, thin crust pizzas, or one extra large.

Creamy Garlic Parmesan Sauce:

1 cup milk
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
½ cup fresh (please, not out of the green can) shaved or shredded Parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic, diced
pepper

Sauté garlic in a small amount of butter until golden. Add remaining butter. Allow to melt, then add flour, stirring until well incorporated. Add milk and Parmesan cheese. Stir until slightly thickened. Add pepper to taste.

My first mission for this recipe was to make the crust. How was I going to get it thick and fluffy, airy inside and slightly crisp outside? I used my bread machine to make the dough (use beer in lieu of water if you have it, and add oregano and basil to the dry ingredients) and found a round cake pan to press it into. I went about halfway up the sides, as I didn’t want it to rise over the top of the pan, then I pre-baked it in a 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes, just until it rose and the crust was barely beginning to brown.

The pre-baking worked well. It ensured that my crust had a crisp bottom, and it gave me a solid form to load my ingredients into. The end result was a crusty exterior, an airy interior, and a great overall thickness. I might pre-bake every crust from now on.

But! When it came time to remove the pizza from the pan, I couldn’t. The next day, I went and bought a springform pan and tried the recipe in that. It worked perfectly. You can find quality springforms for under 20 bucks. I bought mine at the Faberware outlet for $8.99. Get a nice heavy duty, non-stick model that’s easy to work.

For the sauce, I opened a can of whole tomatoes and crushed them. But I wanted a thicker base and the smokier flavor of tomato sauce in addition to the nice acidity and chunkiness of the whole tomatoes. The solution, I found, was half of a 4.5 oz. can of tomato paste. I mixed it into the tomatoes, along with garlic, basil, oregano, and black pepper.

Overall, I found it to be well-balanced, with enough crust and sauce to make it deep dish. Traditionally, you eat deep dish with a knife and fork. I tried to convince my husband of this, but he insisted on picking it up anyway. Whatever. It was tasty!

Ingredients (for two pizzas):

2 lbs. dough
1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese
14 oz. whole tomatoes
2 oz. tomato paste
pepperoni, green pepper, mushrooms, or ingredients of your choice
garlic power, basil, oregano, pepper, or other spices of your choice
Parmesan cheese

Special Equipment:

springform pan

1. Make your dough. Form it into your pan, only extending halfway up the sides, and making the sides slightly thicker than the bottom. Pre-bake crust in a 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes, or until the crust has risen and is just slightly browning.

2. To your pre-baked crust, add a thick layer of mozzarella on the bottom.

3. Layer your pepperoni, diced green peppers, sliced mushrooms, or ingredients of your choosing, over the top of the cheese. Use ingredients liberally.

4. Add a light layer of cheese over the top of your chosen ingredients.

5. Top with a thick layer of sauce.

6. Finely grate Parmesan cheese over the top of the sauce.

7. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until Parmesan is melting and the crust is golden brown.

8. Pop out of the springform pan, and let cool slightly before cutting.

Two pizzas will serve 3 people easily, 4 people if you have other dishes or light eaters.