Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza
Forget takeout or delivery, make your cheese-stuffed pizza crust at home. This recipe makes just the right amount for one large, family-sized pizza. Other great recipes to feed a casual gathering include Cheeseburger Sliders with Hawaiian Rolls and Chicken Spaghetti with Rotel!
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 241kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup water heated to 110°-115° degrees, from the kitchen faucet
- 1 envelope dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped use more, less, or no garlic, to your taste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour use pizza flour
- 9 sticks mozzarella cheese sticks unwrapped
Instructions
Prep Cheese and Crust Ingredients
- Place warm water (hot from the kitchen faucet works fine) in a mixing bowl and add the yeast, olive oil, garlic, salt and sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Unwrap 9 mozzarella cheese sticks, discard the plastic wrappings and set the cheese aside.
Add Flour
- Once the yeast has started to bubble in the mixing bowl, add three cups of flour and mix using a bread hook or a sturdy spoon, until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Add a few tablespoons of additional flour if needed to create a firm dough.
Knead
- Sprinkle a ¼ cup of flour on a cutting board or piece of parchment paper. Remove the mound of pizza dough from the bowl and place it on top of the flour. Knead for 20 seconds.
Rising Time
- Spray the same bowl you used to mix the dough with Pam or use a paper towel to spread it with a thin coat of shortening. Return the mound of dough to the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a towel. Place the bowl in a warm spot (or on the kitchen counter) and allow the dough to rise for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes place the dough on your pizza pan, use your fingers to pat the dough and spread it to the edges of the pan. Place the unwrapped cheese sticks along the edge of the pizza dough, leaving about 1 inch of extra dough between the cheese and the edge of the pan.Gently stretch the extra inch of dough around each cheese stick and press the dough down to seal the cheese stick in place. Add the toppings to the top of the pizza crust.Bake at 425° F for 15-20 minutes. Check the pizza at 15 minutes. How to Know When the Pizza is Done: The pizza crust will be golden brown, the cheese should be melted in the center and the toppings should be hot. Note: Depending on how many toppings you have, the pizza may need an additional 5 - 10 minutes or so to bake.
Notes
Unlike some bread dough, the rising time for homemade pizza crust is less than 30 minutes and you won't need to wait until the dough doubles in size. Just let the dough sit long enough to rest and "grow" by about ¼ the size of the original mound of dough. Top this crust of Garlic Parmesan Pizza Sauce for a winning flavor combination!
Nutrition
Calories: 241kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 303mg | Potassium: 75mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 0.3IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 3mg
