Pizzadough

The second time that I cooked with Kiddo, we made pizza. It is one of our favorites. Pizza is delicious, and fairly easy to make. You can make it simple or complicated. We go for simple. I buy sauce in a jar, and dough from the supermarket (I get it near the deli, not the frozen kind, but that is just personal preference). You could totally make those ingredients, but I try to make the cooking fun, and not too long so that Kiddo doesn’t loose interest.

Our first attempt at making “pizzadough,” as Kiddo calls it, was a success. However, I didn’t let her do as much as I could have (nor as much as she does now). The pictures I have are from the third or fourth pizza that we made. Kiddo’s cousin was over, so he got to make one too. I had my mom there to help (so I could take pictures), but the kids were both great, and I probably could have managed on my own.

I stretched the dough for them because, although they would have enjoyed it, I wanted bigger pizzas than they could create. From there, I let Kiddo and Cuzzo do their thing.

As you can see from the pictures, Kiddo is a pro, and made sure to quality check the mozzarella. 😍

I’m including my recipe, but it hardly qualifies as such.

Pizza:

• pizza dough (I prefer raw to the ready made crusts)
• jar of pizza sauce (I like Classico)
• shredded part-skim mozzarella (or the pizza blend)
• pepperoni
• corn meal
• olive oil spray

Directions

1. Let the dough come to room temperature (leave it on the counter for about 30 minutes).

2. Roll or stretch the dough to desired use and shape.

3. Lightly spray backing sheet with/ olive oil. This is something a toddler can do (with modeling and explicit directions).

4. Dust the baking sheet with corn meal (I almost never remember to do this, but it adds a nice crunch!).

5. Place the dough on the prepared baking sheet.

6. Place as much sauce as you intend to use in a small bowl. Allow toddler to spread the sauce on the dough (a pastry brush might make this a bit easier).

7. Place cheese in a small bowl and allow toddler to sprinkle it liberally on top of the sauce.

8. Add pepperoni. Kiddo and Cuzzo liked trying to count the pieces of pepperoni as they placed them on the pizzas.

Do you cook with kiddos? What do you like to make?