Hawaiian Pizza Party!

One of my hubby's favorite dinners is pizza.  I swear he could probably eat pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner, he loves it that much.  I can't say that I don't love pizza too.  I mean, who doesn't?  Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever met someone who doesn't like pizza.  Hmm....I don't think it is actually humanly possible to not like pizza.  We are both hard core pepperoni lovers, but also have fairly recently come to love Hawaiian pizza.  My brother-in-law, just so happens to have been in Hawaii this past week (lucky duck), so I figure we'll just pretend a bit that we were there and if we were to walk outside to our backyard there would be a sandy beach with crystal blue water lapping against the shoreline. Ok, so it is going to take a lot of imagination, LOL!!!

I woke up pretty darn early this morning so I would have plenty of time to tackle the dough.  Never having done this before, I was a tad nervous about how it would turn out but the recipe I found didn't seem like it would be all that difficult.  And, I was right!  It wasn't difficult at all, the crust cooks up really nicely and makes one heck of a yummy pizza! 

Pizza Dough adapted from Wolfgang Puck

Ingredients:
1 packet active dry yeast

1 1/2cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
1Tbsp honey
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for brushing the pizza crust
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt


Directions:
1. Dissolve the yeast and warm water in a large bowl.  Stir in the honey and allow it to sit until the water is cloudy, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the olive oil.
2. I did this next part by hand, as I didn't have a nice mixer yet.  My hubby got me one later today for an early birthday gift.  In a large clean bowl, mix flour and salt. Gradually mix in the flour a cup at a time using a large wooden spoon. Once the dough gets to be too much of a pain to mix it any further in the bowl, dump it onto a lighlty floured, flat surface (a counter-top or cutting board will do) and knead it for 10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary until the dough is nice, smooth and pliable.
3.  Place the dough to a good sized lightly oiled bowl, and roll the dough around a bit to coat. Cover the bowl  with plastic wrap and set a tea towel over it. Leave it in a nice warm spot to rise for 30 minutes to an hour. The dough will double in size. 
4. Once the dough is finished rising, divide the dough up into however many pizza's you want to make.  I wanted to make two larger pizzas so I divided it in two but you could do 4 small ones too. Shape each ball by pulling down on the sides of the dough, tucking the sides under the bottom of the ball, working round and round the ball 4 or 5 times. On a smooth, unfloured surface, roll the ball around a bit until it is nice and firm. Put the balls on a platter and cover plastic wrap with spray oil. Let them rest for at least 30 minutes.  If you want to store some dough for later, the balls can be wrapped in plastic and stored in the fridge or up to two days. 
5.  Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.  Press out the dough as best you can on a lightly floured cutting board or countertop.  Don't try to make it perfect, the less perfect the more rustic looking it is!  I tried to just use my hands to do it but ultimately grabbed a rolling pin to help things along.  Once you have it to the desired size you want, pinch all the way around the edges to make a rim or crust.  Transfer the pizza to a baking pan, that is lightly sprayed with oil.  Brush everything but the crust with olive oil and add your desired toppings, see below for the toppings I used. 
6.  Bake for 4 minutes on the lower rack of the oven, then transfer it to the middle rack for 7 more minutes or until the crust is golden brown.


Hawaiian Pizza Toppings:
Ingredients:
Pizza Sauce recipe found on previous post "Happy Memorial Day - Celebrating with a Sandwhich"
Pineapple chunks
Canadian Bacon, cut into chunks
Shredded Italian Blend cheese
Parmesan Cheese