Pizza!

There's nothing quite like homemade pizza.  Hot and fresh and probably better for you than frozen pizza.  And it's super simple.  

Here's my recipe...

Pizza Crust

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 T white sugar
2 tsp yeast
3/4 warm water
2 T olive oil
Extra flour for dusting (may take 1/2-1 cup)
Extra olive oil for coating the bowl

Start off by putting the yeast in a small bowl.  Add 1/4 cup of the warm water.  Stir and set aside.  In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and sugar until combined.  Make a well in the center.  Pour in the yeast mixture.  Put the remaining 1/2 cup of warm water into the yeast bowl, swirling and stirring until all the yeast residue is incorporated and then pour that into the flour well.  Add the olive oil to the well.  Wash your hands well and then starting in the center of the well, using your fingers, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  (I do concentric circles outward with one hand, keeping the other goo-free.)  

Now, here's my weird part.  I knead my dough right in the bowl.  When you've got it all mixed together, dust your gooey hand with flour and get all the dough off and into the bowl.  Smoosh that into the dough as you go.  Knead the dough for 7 minutes, dusting in more flour every time you start sticking to the dough again.  When the timer goes off, you should have a round ball of dough and a clean bowl.  Sparingly coat the bottom and sides of the bowl with olive oil.  Put the dough ball into the bowl, turning it until the dough is covered with oil.  You just want enough oil that the dough doesn't stick to the bowl while it's rising.  Cover with a slightly damp dish towel and put in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until it's roughly doubled in size.  How long you let it rise depends on how warm your place is.  Summers here, I put the bowl out on the sun porch and it takes an hour to rise.  Winters, I put the bowl in my bathroom and leave all the lights on.  Then it takes about 2 hours to rise.

Start preheating the oven now.  475F

Once it's risen to where you want it, punch the dough ball.  Right in the center.  One hit... pow.  Now, here's the other weird part for me.  I don't knead the dough again.  No more kneading.  Seriously.  You've done enough damage to your wrists already.  Just take the dough ball, upside up, and place it in the middle of a large pizza pan (mine's 16") that I've already sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Gently coax the dough, in concentric circles, from the center out to the edge of the pan.  If I want a thicker crust, I don't go all the way to the edge.  The closer you get to the edge, the thinner the crust.  

Here's a yummy thing I do next that isn't necessary, but is oh so good - melt like 3 tablespoons of butter in the microwave, stir in garlic salt, and brush that on the crust before you add your toppings.  Outer crust, if you like, or all of it, if you're feeling naughty.  THEN sprinkle the edge with Parmesan.  Mmmmmm.  Then put your toppings on.  Do it up however you like it.  I usually do pizza sauce and mozzarella, then add my toppings.  Last night, I did ham, pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives.  

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.  If you like a little brown on your cheese, hit the broiler for like a minute or two max.  Take it out and let it cool for like 5 minutes before slicing and serving.  I got 12 slices out of last night's pizza.  We ate four pieces and the rest went into the fridge for munching today.  And probably tomorrow.  LOL

You can also take the dough, cut it in half after you punch it - use one for dinner and the other can go into a baggie and into the freezer.  If you do that, take it out of the baggie while it's still frozen and thaw in the fridge in an oiled bowl.  Trust me, you do not want to thaw it in the baggie.  It sticks and it's messy.  Half the dough makes like one medium thin crust or one small thick crust.

And there ya go.  Pizza.  You made yourself.  Your way.  With a tender, yummy crust.  And bones you won't want to throw away.  (Mom always called the edge part the bone, and yeah, I've throw away many a bone in my life.  But not these.)

One last point... if you're not used to kneading, be prepared to have ouchy hands, wrists, and arms the next day.  Mine are killing me today.  It's totally worth it, but I'm giving you fair warning.  ;o)

What do you like on your pizza?