I don't discriminate when it comes to pizza. I surmise that all pizza is good pizza. Even bad pizza is good pizza. From the local Italian pie shops like Buon Appetito in Bayville, NJ to the big pizza chains like Domino’s and Marco’s to your grocer's freezer, I repeat: All pizza is good pizza.
It’s got all four food groups. It's a complete meal. It's great hot, room temperature, and cold. The crusty bread, the flavorful sauce, the cheese pull, and toppings of your choice. What's not to like? I find it hard to trust people who don't like pizza. I wonder what underlying reason there could be for shunning such gastronomic genius.
So when a friend asked, “Did you know you can make pizza dough with two ingredients?” that simple question was enough for me, a pizza aficionado and the culinary master of my own kitchen, to give it a go. Here's everything I learned along the way and why you should try it, too.
The Crust
First off, ingredients: This simple dough comes together with equal parts nonfat, plain Greek yogurt and self-rising flour. I used 1 cup of each and more flour for the board, more than you think you’ll need; it's a sticky dough. Mix the yogurt and flour until well combined. Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured board. I turned it over to coat the dough in flour and make it easier to work with. I also cut the dough in half to make two personal pizzas, one of which left me quite content. I planned to pair it with a salad, but I was honestly full after just the pizza. Maybe it was the extra protein from the Greek yogurt. I used Walmart’s Great Value brand, which has 25 grams of protein per cup.
I expected to use a rolling pin to roll out the dough, but the dough was soft and easy enough to pat out into a round crust with only my hands. I set my oven-type air fryer to bake at 400 degrees and baked the crust for eight minutes before topping it. Make sure to grease the pan. I forgot the first time, and it was quite an exercise in patience to get the crust off the pan in one piece. A little olive oil the next round, and it slid right off.
Sauce and Toppings
As for the sauce, I used a can of Hunt’s tomato paste, thinned out with water until I reached the desired, spreadable consistency. I used a 12-ounce can and added about three-fourths cup water. I also added about a half-teaspoon of each garlic powder and Italian seasoning. If you use no-salt added tomato paste, you may want to add some salt as well. To the lightly browned crust, I spooned on and spread the sauce. I kept the toppings simple with Italian-blend shredded cheese and turkey pepperoni. Then it was ready to go back into the oven for another six minutes.
But feel free to get creative. Make it a veggie pizza. Use Alfredo sauce, and make a pizza version of chicken Alfredo. The possibilities are endless.
Final Thoughts
The results were stellar. It's not a crusty, crunchy crust. It has more of a chewy texture, but it hits all the notes. Who knew making pizza dough from scratch could be so simple? Well, apparently all of the Internet did. A quick search for “2-ingredient pizza dough” led me everywhere from Weight Watchers to All Recipes, The Food Network and Tasty, with varying measurements of the same two ingredients.
The subsequent times I've made this, I added garlic powder, rosemary and oregano to the flour before mixing in the Greek yogurt. It really adds to the flavor. And I can think of some other ways to use the protein-packed dough as well: Think flatbread for sandwich fillings, bagels, breadsticks. You could even cut the dough into bite-size pieces before baking and coat them in melted butter and cinnamon sugar. So there you have it: An all-purpose dough with no yeast, no rising, no punching down, no kneading.