Smokey BBQ & Cheddar Individual Pizza

Mmmm.  I love love love BBQ sauce.  I would put it on everything if I could.  I love making home made pizzas and using BBQ sauce instead of Pizza Sauce.   Here is my dough and sauce recipe, as well as one of my favorite pizzas; Cheesey BBQ Pizza.

Dough
I make my dough days/weeks in advance and either freeze it in little balls in freezer bags, or I divide it up into little pizzas and bake it, then freeze thoughs.  I prefer the latter option.

This recipe is delicious, but takes a lot of time (because it has to rise/proof), so make enough to freeze and have later on! 

Prep Time: Half hour
Cook Time: Six Minutes
Proof time: 10 hours

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup bread flour, or more if needed
1 tablespoon olive oil

1.Pour the warm water into the pan of a bread machine, sprinkle in the salt, and add the flour to the pan so the flour sits on top of the water. Make a hole in the top of the flour, and spoon the yeast into the hole. Let the mixture sit for 20 minutes to moisten the flour. Set the bread machine to the knead setting, and knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead in 1/4 cup more flour or as needed, adding the flour about 2 tablespoons at a time, to make a wet, sticky, but elastic dough. The dough should be super soft. Form the dough into a round shape.   If you don't have a bread machine, you can also put the warm water into a deep bowl, add the salt and flour, and then add in the yeast.  You can knead the dough on your own, but it may take a little longer for it to become the right texture.  It will, just keep working it. This mixture is VERY sticky, so it'll be harder to do it with your hands.  If you're finding it to be too sticky and you're getting frustrated, add some flour to your fingers.


2.Wipe the inside of a large bowl with olive oil, and place the round ball of dough into the bowl. Turn the dough over a couple of times so the dough picks up a thin coating of oil. Cover with a cloth, and refrigerate the dough for 10 hours or overnight.  OR if you're not using a bread machine, do this step in a seperate bowl.
3.The next day, allow the dough to come to room temperature before rolling out on a floured surface and adding toppings as desired. Roll the dough out thin with a thicker edge before adding toppings.  Usually I don't add any toppings at this stage because I like to make it, seperate it, and then freeze it.

4.Place a pizza stone into oven, dust it with a little flour, and preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bake the pizza on the stone in the preheated oven until the bottom of the crust is browned, 6 to 8 minutes. I broke my pizza stone, so now, I just throw it in on the racks.
 
Sauce
Trust me, it's delicious.
2 cups root beer

2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup no-pulp orange juice
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Stir together the root beer, ketchup, orange juice, Worcestershire sauce, and molasses in a saucepan. Season with ginger, paprika, chipotle powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator up to a week.

To make my Smokey BBQ & Cheddar Individual Pizzas, I use 8" pieces of cooked dough and slather on the BBQ sauce.  I use Reggiano cheese, Balderson Cheddar (aged 2 years), Mozzarella, Medium Cheddar and Goat Cheese.  I also sprinkle a little parm on the top.  Once I've got the cheeses mixed up and loaded onto the pizza, I bake in the oven at 375 degrees for about 5 minutes.

By freezing the doughs, you can have pizza in under 10 minutes once thawed.  It's delicious NY style dough, and freezes really well!

Pictures to come soon!