Garlic Oil Pizza and Calzone’s

The cost of pizza delivery is out of sight and I refuse to do it.  $30 for pizza is simply ridiculous and I never really like it anyway.  I have discovered that I like pizza a lot better without the red sauce.  This garlic oil pizza is delicious.  This pizza dough is very forgiving and versatile.  I used half of it for pizza (forgot to take a picture but they were gorgeous) and refrigerated the other half for a couple of days and then made calzone’s.   I filled them with the same ingredients as the pizza plus some red sauce for Hillbilly and instead of putting the oil inside the Calzone, I drizzled the olive oil on top before baking.  You could also make bread sticks with the dough.  Forget pizza delivery and give it a try!

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups warm water 
• 2 packages dry yeast
• 2 tsp  honey
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
• Kosher salt
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups Italian 4-cheese blend, shredded
• 4 cups grated mozzarella
• Italian sausage
• pepperoni for the grandkids
• thinly sliced onions
• black olives, sliced
• cornmeal for sprinkling on the bottom of pan

Combine the water, yeast and honey in a large bowl.  When the yeast is dissolved, add the olive oil and stir and then add  3 cups of the flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and mix with a large spoon until dough comes together, continuing using hands when the spoon no longer will work for you. While kneading, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl. When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, break up sausage and brown in skillet, drain renderings and make the garlic oil. Place 1/2 cup olive oil, the garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 450-475 degrees depending on how hot your oven gets.  Mine works really good so I went with 450 degrees.
Dump the dough onto a board and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Place them on a sheet pan lined  and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate. To refrigerate, place each dough ball in plastic wrap sprayed with oil. 
Press and stretch each ball into an 8-inch circle and place 2 on each cornmeal sprinkled sheet pan. (If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.) Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pizzas with half of the cheese then a layer of sausage (or whatever toppings that you like) and black olives and onions then more cheese. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.