Pizza

Homemade pizza was one of those things that, when I got married, I thought I had down pat.  Little did I know my skills at pizza making were in need of sharpening.  I've tried a number of recipes, ranging from my mom's all time favorite, to the freeze and come again dough.  My main problems are in the crust, sauce, and the amount of time and energy it takes to make it.

To my husband these areas of pizza are crucial.  The crust cannot be doughy or too thin, there has to be tons of sauce (which makes it hard not to get a doughy crust) well seasoned with more for dipping the pizza in, and the whole process needs to be quick.  Weeknight meals need to take at most one to one and a half hours from start to finish to allow time for clean up and relaxation. With these guidelines in mind, I have not faired very well, at least that is, until I found this recipe from Everybody Like Sandwiches.  Because my husband deems the sauce a very important part of the meal Pizza Blanco wouldn't have been a big hit, so, I used a sauce recipe from my American Test Kitchen cookbook, and then added on the toppings.  The recipe below is the updated version. 



Pizza With Color

the easiest pizza dough in the world
1 packet of yeast
1 c warm water
2 1/2 c flour (I did 1 1/2c white flour and 1c whole wheat)
1 t honey
1 t salt
2 T olive oil
cornmeal
pizza toppings:
grated cheese (parmesan, mozzerella or whatever you have on hand)
1-1 1/2 c Pizza Sauce (recipe below)
And your preference of Hamburger, Italian Sausage, Bell Peppers, Onions, etc.

Preheat oven to 400. In a large bowl, add in the yeast and warm water and stir until the yeast dissolves. Add the flour, salt, honey,, and olive oil and stir with a wooden spoon vigorously until combined. Let dough rest for 10 minutes

Spray a walled baking sheet with cooking spray, sprinkle cornmeal over the oil evenly and press dough into it until thin. To keep dough from getting soggy from the sauce, put dough in the oven for half the cooking time, about 10 minutes. This step is optional. Add your toppings, starting with the sauce, then meat and veggies, and finally the cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes until pizza crust is golden and cheese is bubbly.

Pizza Sauce
             1 (16oz can) Crushed Tomatoes
             3-4 cloves Garlic minced
             2 Tbl Olive Oil
             Salt and Pepper to taste
             
In a pan set to medium high heat add your Olive Oil.  Once oil is hot add garlic and sautee for 2-3min or until just starting to get brown around the edges.  Add Crushed Tomatoes and salt and pepper, and stir.  Reduce heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until it has cooked down to a thicker sauce. Once, it is thick enough add it to pizza or let cool and store it until needed.  It will keep for 3 days in refrigeration. 

This recipe is so easy that I ended up having to bake it with Nolan, my 4 & 1/2 Month old in his sling.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of my flour hand print on the bottom of the sling, but got these still very cute pictures instead (in the picture above you can kinda see the flour, but mostly it's cute because it shows both Nolan's and my hands on the sling).  Enjoy!