Can I buy pizza dough?

Yes, I am able to make pizza dough. But after a long day at work, my wife and I are poo-ooped. And our twin toddlers demand attention, wouldn't you know. We want pizza, but we can't always get our act together to make the dough in advance or on the spot. And we can't always pack up the family and take them out and about. In the alternative, I'd like to find a pizza parlor, preferably around Evanston, or an area grocer, that sells pizza dough. I imagine a round ball of glutenous potential that I can flatten and top accordingly and appropriately. Is this possible?

As always, thanks...

I am pretty sure that Trader Joe's sells pizza dough, though they aren't that close to Evanston yet. (I also have a vague recollection of a Jewel or Dominick's stocking pizza dough, but I'm sure you wouldn't be asking here if it was that simple.)

A lot of local pizza places will sell you a ball of dough for a couple bucks. I have been shot down by some local ones though. In the city, Apart Pizza on Lincoln/Montrose will sell them to you. They make really good thin crust and are nice folks too.

Trader Joe's definitely has it (I bought some recently, though haven't gotten around to using it yet) and I'm 95% certain Whole Foods carries it.

Have you tried some of the local pizza joints? Carmen's, or Gigio's, or maybe even Lou Malnati's in Evanston might be worth a phone call.

I have made good pizzas with pizza dough from Trader Joe's. I have only tried regular dough, I think they also have dough with spinach(?), not sure about this, but the dough was green.

The dough hard to find sometimes, it's next to the cheese section at our store.

I bought a three-pack of frozen pizza dough rolls from Sunset the other day. The brand name is Rhodes. I haven't tried it yet; I'll report back when I have.

when I made pizza, id make the dough a day before. Only took 2 mins with a food processor. Bet you can make em and freeze em till u r ready to use.

The little Italian bakery in Edison Park called Concha d'Oro, sells pizza dough. It's around $1 for a big ball 'o dough. Fresh and frozen IIRC. Call ahead.

Conca D'Oro Pastry Shop
6710 N Northwest Hwy
Chicago, IL 60631
(773) 631-1962

eggplant wrote:I think they also have dough with spinach(?), not sure about this, but the dough was green.

The "green" dough at Trader Joe's has some Italian spice mixed in with it. Very good and our usual goto store bought crust.

Thanks for all the tips. I'll certainly stock up next time I'm near a Trader Joes.

I haven't called all the pizza shops in Evanston, but so far I've had no luck. Even the Homemade Pizza Company will not give me dough alone. Go figure.

ChgoMike wrote:Even the Homemade Pizza Company will not give me dough alone. Go figure.

You should order the pizza Jack Nicholson style. I'll have a cheese pizza please. Hold the cheese and the sauce.

I've used the Rhodes dough and one of the Jewels in Evanston carries it. Defrosting it is a bit of a pain. It is adequate in the same way that most frozen dough products in the Jewel freezer are adequate; not as good as the real thing, but with extra kneading and doctoring, it's OK. It tickles me that it's advertised as either pizza dough (if you unroll it) or Italian bread (if you leave it rolled)

Have you called Panino's, Mike? Seems like if anywhere was the type of place to offer dough, they'd be it. (or Foodstuffs?)

Whenever I use store bought dough, I have a problem with the dough wanting to shrink back in after I have rolled it. I've started leaving it out on the counter for at least an hour before I want to roll it so that the dough can relax a bit. Any other tips? What am I doing wrong?

i have the same problem w/ trader joes, and sometimes go as far as pulling away thicker parts and patching it toghther... lately i've been trying to make my own which is much more workable, vs trader joe's. if you look around on recipezaar you'lll find a lot of decent recipes for pizza dough that don't require much effort...(less effort than trying to work TJ's dough if you ask me)... you just have buy some yeast and flour.. there are a few recipes that don't need yeast too (st. louis style is one i make that doesn't use yeast)

also, trader joe's directions say to cook the pizza for 8 minutes. i've had a good 3 or 4 ovens, pizza stone and no stone, and have never managed to have one of their doughs cook up that fast. 8 minutes and it tastes like...dough. it usually takes 20. who wrote these directions, i wonder?

TJ's also makes a whole wheat dough in addition to their regular and italian... i think the whole wheat is kinda blah though.

I agree that TJs crust shrinks quite a bit so I just pull it out really big and then it kinda shrinks to "normal" size (the pizza guy at Whole Foods told me to leave the crust out for 30-45 minutes to stop this from happening - I never remember and then I'm hungry). I also bake the crust for about 10 minutes before putting any toppings on it (had the same doughy problem). Then back in the oven until everything looks good and browned.

As a side note - the crust from WF makes a large thick pizza. Just go to where the are making the pizzas and ask for a bag of dough. Very good, but a bit expensive!

I too have moved on from buying dough to making my own. My current dough recipe takes about an hour (5 minutes to prep, 55 minutes to rise).

I'd recommend the "LTHForum" of pizza making: http://www.pizzamaking.com

To help prevent the dough from shrinking, once the dough is stretched out place it on a lightly oiled/floured upside down mixing bowl.

Caputo's on Harlem sells frozen pizza dough at $1/ball. It makes a good crust. The one drawback is that it takes several hours for the dough to thaw and become ready to use.

they sell pizza dough at Damatos bakery at Grand and May, next to Bari.

It may be the last thing you're looking for, but I noticed today that Pillsbury makes a refrigerated pizza dough. $2.95 at Ultra Foods, which strikes me as highway robbery, but I don't have any basis for comparison. I would bet that it's easy to use.

We have been buying Damatos dough almost every week for years and making our own pizza at home (on the grill during the hot summer nights). We usually buy it from Fiore's, a small family run italian deli on Oakley and Erie (312)942-9419. This dough is way better than Trader Joe's. If you use Pastorelli's Pizza Sauce and fresh basil on the pizza, you will never want to order out again.
Gina

The D'Amato's pizza dough is very good, for what it is. However, it has quite a bit of shortening, and it makes a pizza that is more like focaccia or D'Amato's bakery pie than anything you might get at Spacca Napoli or Coal Fire, eg. I have been told by staff that it is "yesterday's" dough for bread. I've had some batches that were extremely robust in their yeastiness, alcoholic really. Probably quite a bit more mature than 24 hours, which I actually think is a benefit. As long as the crumb gets cooked all the way through, it turns out very well.

JeffB wrote:The D'Amato's pizza dough is very good, for what it is. However, it has quite a bit of shortening, and it makes a pizza that is more like focaccia or D'Amato's bakery pie than anything you might get at Spacca Napoli or Coal Fire, eg. I have been told by staff that it is "yesterday's" dough for bread. I've had some batches that were extremely robust in their yeastiness, alcoholic really. Probably quite a bit more mature than 24 hours, which I actually think is a benefit. As long as the crumb gets cooked all the way through, it turns out very well.

Assuming you are topping the dough in some way, do you par bake it and then top it and finish it in the oven with toppings or do you top the fully uncooked dough prior to baking? Just curious if the logistics and length of getting a crumb cooked all the way through affects the topping sequence and timing.

Good question. It sort of depends on how much you want to put on the pie. For a more classic focaccia or pizza with a modest topping (eg, onions, thin slices of potato or a light smear of crushed tomatoes, grated cheese and possibly sausage a la the pan pizza at D'Amatos, there is no need to par bake). If you want to apply the amount of sauce, cheese and other stuff that is the norm in Chicago for the various indigenous kinds of thin and deep dish pies, you will want to par-bake. Otherwise, you risk a gummy undercooked interior.

Cooking times, I can't really help you with. I'm ususally cooking in a really, really hot outdoor oven these days. Pizza and bread cooking times, for me, are more of a trial and error, eyeballing process anyway. The good news is, dough's cheap.

I have had good luck with Salerno's in Berwyn.

Salerno's Restaurant & Pizzeria
3250 Grove Ave
Berwyn, IL 60402
Phone: (708) 484-3400

blucrsr wrote:

eggplant wrote:I think they also have dough with spinach(?), not sure about this, but the dough was green.

The "green" dough at Trader Joe's has some Italian spice mixed in with it. Very good and our usual goto store bought crust.

Thanks for the info, I will have to check it out.

Are the spices what makes it green?

I think the spice mixture is what makes it green. Now that I'm thinking about it, I actually think it's sold as "Pesto Dough". However, I could be very wrong. Hope that clears things up!

I second stevz's suggestion for:
Conca D'Oro Pastry Shop
6710 N Northwest Hwy
Chicago, IL 60631
(773) 631-1962

They also used to sell a decent pizza sauce too--if not in the frozen case, ask them to sell some to you. They also have a great selection of Italian cookies. Tony's is another Italian market just a few doors from Conca D'Oro. They also have great sauce, but stick to Conco D'Oro for pizza dough. Go to Tony's for pizza toppings, and arrancini

Any good places you would like to share to get already made dough?

Thanks