Quick Pizza

You may have noticed I’ve been on hiatus for a while, but I have a good reason. Baby #2 arrived January 24! Between my pregnancy and now having a newborn, I have definitely been slacking in the kitchen. But I’m planning to get back to it in the coming weeks and months, along with revisiting some baby food ideas, as my little guy starts eating solids in a couple of months. For today, I offer you a recipe that has served me well lately. It’s one those clever little tricks that constantly seem to be making the rounds on social media in recent years but it’s really a good one- a fast and easy way to make my favorite food: PIZZA!

I’ve worked pretty hard in recent years on making the perfect pizza. If I had to eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would probably be a neopolitan-style margherita pizza, so it ranks high on the list of things I wish I could truly recreate at home. I’ve tried imported stones, special perforated pans, and outdoor grills; I’ve cultivated my own wild yeast, tried the artisan pizza in 5 minutes a day, and any number of other techniques and recipes. Don’t get me wrong. Many of these came out great- although I’ve decided it’s close to impossible to get a true Napoli-style pizza without a wood-fired brick oven that reaches a gagillion degrees, which I don’t have (YET).

Nonetheless, as any parent/cook who occasionally pulls out all the stops on cooking knows, our most proud projects are hardly the most appreciated by our kids. The truth is that my son has grown more and more resistant to my home pizza projects, to the point where he straight up says he doesn’t like pizza unless someone other than me makes it…preferably a generic chain restaurant. I think part of the problem is that while I’m searching for the holy grail of crusty and chewy, he likes soft and doughy.

Enter the two-ingredient, no-brainer, practically doesn’t even count as dough-making pizza method. Of COURSE that one passes the kid test. Suggesting this method to someone who has spent endless hours expanding their knowledge of yeast doughs is a bit like telling Mario Batali that pasta-making is significantly easier when you use Spaghetti-ohs. But I’m a firm believer that there is a time and a place for all types of food. There are homemade-pasta-using-imported-Italian ’00 pizza flour-and-san marzano tomatoes nights and there are spaghetti-ohs nights. This recipe is somewhere in the middle. Super simple to put together but home-made and delicious.

The two-ingredient pizza dough, as promised, only involves two ingredients: self-rising flour and plain Greek yogurt, and it really comes out great!

All you do is add equal parts flour and yogurt and knead very briefly, adding a little extra flour as needed to keep from sticking too much. It’s not elastic like yeast dough, but that makes it easy to press into a shape on the baking sheet. No need for rolling out. Feel free to adapt the quantities to your needs, using about a 1-1 ratio of yogurt and flour, and a little extra water or flour to reach a soft, but not overly sticky dough.

The result is a flavorful pizza dough with just enough crunch around the rim but remaining soft in the center. I’m sure there is lots more you could do with this dough! Pretzels? Cinnamon rolls? Who knows?

Super Fast 2-ingredient Pizza Dough

• 1 cup self-rising (plus more if needed)
• 1 cup plain whole or 2 % Greek yogurt (plain whole milk yogurt works too but you may need to up the flour a bit to account for more water)

Toppings

• sliced unsmoked provolone cheese
• jarred pizza sauce
• any other toppings as desired

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the flour and yogurt until well blended. Add a touch of extra water if needed in order to get a consistency that is soft but not so sticky that you can’t handle it. Add a dash of salt and extra virgin olive oil if desired.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Flour the dough ball as well as your hands, and spread dough onto cookie sheet, pressing gently into a round shape, about 1/2 inch thick. Spread pizza sauce in a thin layer, and then lay cheese slices. If desired, sprinkle with seasonings or garlic powder. Bake until edges turn golden. YUM!

Note: I recently tried working in 1 cup of frozen grated cauliflower, reducing the amount of flour by about 1/3. It worked perfectly and offers a nice compromise between a low carb cauliflower crust and an all flour one.