Cheesesteak Pizza

Pizza is a favorite in our house, my kids could eat it everyday of the week.  I make my own, instead of buying it because it's cheaper, and they love it!  There are many different toppings for pizza, ham, chicken and pineapple to name a few, my new favorite topping is cheese steak.  I made this pizza just with steak sandwich meat and mozzarella cheese, I also make it with sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions - Goooood! Recipe below for pizza dough.

The dough mixed and rolled out.

 Fry up the steak meat and drain fat off in a colander.  Top the pizza with a small amount of sauce, if desired and then with steak and mozzarella cheese.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 - 30 minutes.

PIZZA DOUGH

INGREDIENTS

2 packages of active dry yeast

1 Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp canola oil (I use olive oil because I like the fruity taste of it)

1 1/4 cups of very warm water

3 1/2 cups of unbleached flour (plus additional flour for kneading)

2 tsp salt (I like the flavor of  kosher salt that's why I use it but you can use regular table salt)

DIRECTIONS

Attach dough hook to mixer. Combine the yeast, sugar, oil  and water in the bowl of the mixer.  Stir it up until the yeast and sugar are dissolved. Add 3 cups of the flour and the salt and turn the mixer on medium speed.  As the ingredients combine, the dough should start pulling from the sides of the bowl.  As this happens add up to the 1/2 cup of flour that is left.  Let the mixer knead the dough for about 5 minutes.  Turn mixer off.  The dough will be a tiny bit sticky. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it by hand about 10 - 12 times. It should be very smooth.  Roll it into a ball, seam side down.  Oil a large bowl with about 2 Tbsp of oil.  Put the dough in the bowl seam side up and roll the top in the bottom of the bowl.  Turn the dough right side up.  Cover the bowl with a linen towel and set in a cool dry place.  Let it rise for 1/2 hour.

When the dough has risen, dump it out of the bowl onto a floured surface and cut into 4 even pieces (8")  for a larger personal pizza, or 6 even pieces for smaller pizzas (6").  Roll the dough into a round shape and place on parchment lined cookie sheets (2 on each sheet).  Let them rest for about 5 minutes. If using right away add sauce and toppings and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 - 30 minutes (depending on your oven). When pizzas are baked remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack to keep the crust crispy. If you are not using the dough right away cover with a damp linen towel and put them in the refrigerator for up to 3 hours. Take out of the refrigerator and let the dough come to room temperature before adding topping and then bake.