Homemade Pizza Dough

Pizza dough seems to have a versatility about it that makes me happy. Or maybe it's the fact that making your own pizza dough is so incredibly easy and cost-effective that makes me happy. Either way, it's something to try (at least once) before you decide that you'll commit yourself to a life of take out or Boboli.

We made our dough into calzones, so the servings were slightly less than usual. My recipe indicates the servings and Points values for the calzones. You could definitely get one large pizza (eight slices being eight servings) out of this dough.

Simple Pizza Dough
Serves 5
Points: 6

1 package Quick Rise Yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

In medium glass bowl, mix yeast and water together. Add remaining ingredients to yeast mixture and mix thoroughly by hand. Allow to stand for 10 minutes in bowl covered with towel.

Lightly grease your hands with olive oil before handling dough.

Separate dough into five equal parts. Using your hands, gently spread into large round approximately 1/8" thick on greased cookie sheet. Top half of circle with your favorite ingredients. Fold untopped half over and seal by pressing dough firmly together with your fingers.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes or until golden brown.

While the pizza dough recipe doesn't require it, I often use an egg wash - one egg lightly beaten or 1/8 cup refrigerated egg substitute - to seal the dough and across the top of the calzone. You can then sprinkle the crust with shredded parmesan before baking. Not only do you get a deep, golden crust that's just the right combination of crisp and gooey, you also get the added tang of parmesan in every bite!