spicy garlic bread pizza

Let's end pizza week with a bang, shall we?

I have a seriously deep love for old school garlic bread. It's buttery, garlicky, Parmesan-y... all things I adore. If you love it even half as much as I do, you have to try this pizza dough. It's a giant retro garlic bread made into a pizza, and with a teensy spicy kick from red pepper flakes. Oh dear.

This recipe's all about the dough, and you can top it any which was you like, but I'd probably stick to more classic toppings because the crust flavor is more intense. (Some might not consider jalapenos a classic topping, but have you met my husband?) Go old school on this one - tomato puree, whole-milk mozz, simple toppings. Then again, this crust is so fantastic you might just wanna bake it off and eat it all on its own. That's perfectly acceptable, too.

Spicy Garlic Bread Pizza (adapted from Baked by Rachel)
makes 1 pizza

you'll need:
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2-3 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like it... you know which way we leaned)
1 teaspoon dried basil
olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, very finely minced
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated
tomato puree (I use Pomi)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (preferably whole-milk!)
whatever other toppings you like! (I added hot Italian sausage and pickled jalapenos)

In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes, or until bubbly and active.

Meanwhile, in a large clean bowl, mix together 2 1/2 cup flour, salt, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and basil. Add yeast mixture to the bowl and stir until it comes together. Knead until a smooth dough forms, adding additional flour if needed. Remove the dough and drizzle a bit of olive oil into the bowl, turning to coat. Place dough back in the bowl and flip until it's lightly coated in oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a small bowl, melt butter with minced garlic.

Lightly grease a baking sheet or pizza stone, and press out dough to desired size and shape. Brush the entire dough lightly with the butter/garlic mixture. Bake for 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and add your toppings. Brush outside crust again with butter/garlic mixture and sprinkle it with Parmesan. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the crust is lightly golden. If you like (and I do), broil for 1-3 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before slicing, serving, and high-fiving because this pizza is awesome.

Hope y'all have a happy weekend! xoxo

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