Friday, August 7, 2009

Buying Pizza Dough -- Take Out To Make In

Where can you buy a good pizza dough in Howard County?

I love making pizza, but there isn't time to come home from work, let dough rise for an hour, and then bake dinner. I was driving home Tuesday wishing that my commute ran past Trader Joe's when I decided to just take a chance.

Turns out that Pizza Fresca in Maple Lawn will sell you a pizza dough. It was $4. At first, that seemed steep, but I got a container of dough that made two large calzones. Definitely larger than the refrigerated pizza dough at Trader Joe's. Definitely fresher than Trader Joe's. And a great calzone because I filled it with my own mozzarella, chicken, eggplant and basil. Eggplant from Larriland Farm, basil from my porch. No neighborhood pizza place can compete with that. Next time, I'm going to use sausage from Boarman's.

(For the PizzaBlogger who knows his ovens, I'll report that I baked that calzone in a GE Profile with a ceramic pizza stone that I bought in about 1992.)

This was my first time buying dough from a pizzeria. Maybe it's silly to pay more for dough than I pay for a baguette at Bonaparte or Bon Fresco, but I was very happy with the results -- and $4 is cheaper than takeout. Are there other pizzerias that will sell you dough? Anyone else recommend a place to stop?

(Update: Amy comments below that she buys dough at Roma's Pizza & Subs on Phelps Luck Drive in Columbia. Anyone else?)

If you like pizza, check out my take on pizza in Howard County or peruse the many comments about Coal Fire Pizza in Ellicott City. If you love pizza, check out the PizzaBlogger, who does detailed tastings and writes broadly about making pies.

Pizza Fresca
8180 Maple Lawn Blvd # D
Fulton, MD 20759-2525
(301) 317-8088

NEAR: Pizza Fresca is in the Maple Lawn development on Rte 216 just west of Rte 29. From Rte 29, go west on Rte 216 and then turn right on Maple Lawn Boulevard. Turn left at the first intersection and loop behind the stores to the parking lot.

15 comments:

UhOhBadDog said...

Great tip HowChow, one I wouldn't have thought of myself.

BTW, the Gorman Farm produce stand seems to be offering more regular business hours. I stopped by yesterday midday and picked up some nice squash, tomatoes and cucumbers. They also were offering other items. The proprietors were busy helping their CSA customers, so I was unable to learn much more about their hours, but they do now have clear signage at the road when they are Open! And this week they have been open as early as 8:15a when I've passed, and in the early afternoon as well.

pizzablogger said...

That's the spirit Brent!

That doesn't look too bad for store bought pizza dough....the crumb on the right side is not too shabby....some nice sized air holes mixed in there.

Love the cheese melting and the eggplant coming outta the side....and fresh basil from the porch to boot. Looks tasty!

pizzablogger said...

Brent, did the dough have any packaging which indentified what type of flour(s) were used?

Have a good weekend....botteling up a new batch of limoncello!

Hungry Bob said...

We did pizza on the propane grill tonight using this dough (with our thick pizza stone) and it was pretty good. Fluffier than what we get with our bread machine dough, but a tad blander. We throw in a little bit of whole wheat flour in ours, and I guess we've grown used to it. Still a great convenience. Avoid the fresh mozzarella at Harris Teeter, btw. Not very flavorful and too salty. Overpriced too.

HowChow said...

Pizzablogger -- The "package" was an aluminum take-out container with a plastic lid. I think the guys working at Pizza Fresca just pulled some of their own dough and sold it to me.

Bob -- Did you buy at Pizza Fresca too? I thought it was blander than my own dough -- or even TJ's whole wheat. But then, Mrs. HowChow prefers the white flour dough.

Hungry Bob said...

Yes, it was from Pizza Fresca. I didn't even know that place was back there. I'll have to try TJ's dough sometime. Dough seems to freeze well, so Hungry Bob's wife is starting to make several batches at a time for later use.

amy@flexibledreams said...

I've purchased pizza dough from Roma's on Phelps Luck on a number of occasions and have been very pleased with the results. I don't remember what I paid but it wasn't any more than $4.

pizzablogger said...

How is the pizza at Pizza Fresca?

Pizzablogger said...

How is the pizza at Pizza Fresca?

HowChow said...

I haven't been enough to blog about Pizza Fresca yet.

Hungry Bob said...

I haven't tried their pizza yet.

Anonymous said...

trattoria in dorsey's search sells their dough ($2 or $3, i think), as does upper crust pizza on executive park drive next to the great harvest bread (again, about $2 or $3). i've never had a place i inquired turn me down!

Pizza Blogger said...

Pizza Blogging - I think that is my department.

Amber F. said...

Have you tried the fresh dough from Harris Teeter? At Maple Lawn it's in the refrigerated case at the sub shop. It's only $2, and we thought it was really good!

duanestclair said...

The best pizza dough that I have found is at Sam's Club in Laurel. You can buy a whole box of pizza doughs for $15 and it works out to less than a buck a dough ball. You have to go the place they sell their regular pizza and ask for a box to buy. I freeze the dough and thaw them overnight before using and they rise very well.