For 7 years my husband has been telling me his mother makes the best thick pizza. He would tell me stories of how friends of his used to come over just to grab some of her famous pizza.
The problem? He didn’t know how she did it.
Until now.
About the Dough
I don’t have her specific recipe, but you can find the dough recipe I used here for this recipe. I used a bread machine to make it, but she uses her Cuisinart food processor for making her dough. Both produce great results and my version passed with flying colors for my husband so that is good enough for me!
Alternatively, you can use frozen pizza dough from a store which comes in a ball of dough, or you can make your own pizza dough. I have done both and either is fine. The frozen dough was found in the frozen section at the grocery store.
I found some from a deli in New York at our local Wal-Mart. I was very surprised to see this. I let the dough thaw over night in the refrigerator and it was ready to go.
So what is the secret to a thick pizza dough?
The secret is… drum roll please… let the dough rise a second time for about 25 minutes before baking. But, there is more to it than just that. Read on…
1. After the dough has risen the first time, roll it out and place in the pizza pan. I rub olive oil on the pan and that prevents the pizza from sticking during baking.
It also helps the pizza get a nice crust.
2. Next, place your toppings including the sauce, cheese, veggies etc. on the dough before it rises the second time. Make sure if you can, that that the toppings are room temperature.
The reason for this is because if the toppings are very cold – then the dough will have a harder time rising.
A good trick I learned from my sister, is to preheat the oven to its lowest setting. Then turn it off and place the pizza inside to rise.
3. Rub the olive oil on the crust. This will allow the pizza to form a nice golden brown crust.
4. Cook the pizza at a slower temperature. Most pizza recipes I come across are for thinner or regular crusts. As a result the instructions for baking the pizza are generally at very high temperatures such as 400 or 450 degrees F.
In this case however, bake the pizza at 375 degrees F. for 25 minutes or until the pizza is done. Check to make sure it is cooked all the way through.
When we made the first pizza it was great, but could have cooked a little longer. So I heated up our remaining slices in a toaster over, and oh goodness… it was perfect!
So, there is our family secret finally revealed to the entire internet world. Do me a favor, and give it a try!
[…] still use the topping on a regular pizza crust (try our thick pizza crust recipe here). I’d avoid thin pizza due to it becoming too […]
This is the perfect recipe!! Been craving pizza bread. Made this recipe twice now, baked for 30 minutes and the pizzas were amazing!!
Thank you!!