Birthday Dinner, Part One: Cheese Pizza & Crust Recipe

My kids made me a fantastic birthday dinner Thursday night, complete with setting a fancy table and Top Chef style descriptions of the menu. I couldn't be prouder. Charlie chose cheese pizza as his contribution. The broccoli casserole and molten chocolate cake recipes will follow.

Fancy table, including chocolate milk fixins.

Flowers, natch.

Charlie's finished product.

2 cups warm water

pinch of sugar or smidge of honey

teaspoons active dry yeast

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

5 cups flour (plus extra for handling the dough)

2 teaspoons salt

(corn meal for peel or pan)

1. Measure water into large bowl.  Add the sugar/honey and yeast.  Wait 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the oil.
3. Add 2 cups of the flour and the salt.  Stir with a wooden spoon.
4. Gradually add in the rest of the flour.  Mix with a wooden spoon until it gets too thick, then mix with your hands.  If you need to, add extra flour to keep it from being too sticky.
5. Turn onto a floured work surface.  Knead, pound, and stretch for about five minutes until dough is no longer sticky.
6. Let your dough rest for 1 hour.  Divide and shape into a pizza shapes on a cookie sheet, or pizza peel if using stone.  Dust sheet or peel with plenty of cornmeal.  Top with sauce, toppings, and/or cheese.
7. If using a stone, transfer to pizza stone with a peel.
8. Bake at 500+ degrees for about 8-12 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Watch it closely, the time is approximate.