Pizza Night at Home!

PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! 

Who doesn’t love a good pizza?!  It's not just for the weekend and I am in need for a good pizza! I knew I could whip up a pizza in a snap and have all the toppings I want!  I love how easy this pizza is to make and all the flavor that goes along with it. 

My family loves pizza night.  We have our favorite pizza place in town, but most of the time, we experiment at home, and you can’t go wrong with this dough.  It is simple to make with only 5 ingredients but packed with so much flavor for the crust.  We all love it and enjoy making pizza in our home together.  And this is the moment when my husband and I learned that we need to teach our kids how to read the measuring cup and do fractions!!  hahahahha. I never claimed to be raising geniuses y'all!!! hahahahahaha!!!!  

Every year, we make sure we have a garden filled with tomatoes, pepper and other various vegetables and herbs. (But's another story all in itself.  Lots of trial and error for real!). As a result of this past season's research (more like playing in the dirt, a lot of cursing and using fish fertilizer ...oh yeah that happened!  I'm sure the neighbors we're mad about the stench emitting off of our yard, but are too nice to say something :D), we had bushels of tomatoes that we jarred up at the end of the summer, well into fall.  So we have a steady supply of canned whole, halved and diced tomatoes, purees and sauces that we use in our dishes.

The Sauce:

 

I cooked a simple pizza sauce in my Pampered Chef Deluxe Cooking Blender.  

- 1 Quart Homemade Whole Tomatoes
- 1 Pint homemade chicken stock

- 1 Teaspoon each: garlic powder, onion powder, salt

- 1 Tablespoon Herbes de Provence.  We grow our own herbs so I made ours with the following: thyme, basil, rosemary, tarragon, savory, marjoram, oregano, and bay leaf. Dried and course ground.
Put all ingredients in the blender, set it for Sauce setting, let the blender do all the work. Taste.  Add more salt and pepper as desired.
**STOVETOP**
Add all above ingredients in sauce pan or medium sized pot. Bring to boil, then lower temp to simmer for 10-15 minutes to reduce a little.  Mix cornstarch and cold water in small bowl, slowly add to sauce to thicken.  Let cool, pour in blender to puree.  Taste. Taste. Taste :)
The Dough

Many pizza-making-pros will likely argue that bread flour is best for making homemade pizza. However, I rarely keep any flours in my pantry that are more exotic than all-purpose flour, so when I was working on this recipe I first and foremost made sure that it worked perfectly with regular old all-purpose flour. Pizza dough on its own is obviously important as a base for your favorite pizza, but it’s also kind of… bland. Shockingly, something made primarily of flour and water isn’t super exciting to the taste buds, and most of the flavor will come from whatever toppings you add. 
I do usually try to spice up my crust just a bit, though, by adding a dash of garlic powder (usually around a 1/4 teaspoon) and sometimes dried basil leaves into the dough before you add your oil and water.
HOW DO YOU STRETCH OUT PIZZA DOUGH
You can use a rolling pin or you can use your hands. If you’re especially skilled, you can toss it up in the air and spin your dough like an Italian pizza artist, but I definitely lack the ability to tell you how to do that one.
I prefer to use a rolling pin and roll the dough out into a circle.  Alternatively you can use your hands to flatten and stretch the dough until it reaches the desired width.

           
Ingredients
*2-2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour OR bread flour¹ divided (250-295g)
*1 packet instant yeast² (2 1/4 teaspoon)
*1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
*3/4 teaspoon salt
*1/8-1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and/or dried basil leaves optional
*2 Tablespoons olive oil + additional
*3/4 cup warm water
Instructions
1. Combine 1 cup (125g) of flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. If desired, add garlic powder and dried basil at this point as well.
2. Add olive oil and warm water and use a wooden spoon to stir well very well.
3. Gradually add another 1 cup of flour. Add any additional flour as needed (I've found that sometimes I need as much as an additional 1/3 cup), stirring until the dough is forming into a cohesive, elastic ball and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the bowl.  The dough will still be slightly sticky but still should be manageable with your hands.
4. Drizzle a separate, large, clean bowl generously with olive oil and use a pastry brush to brush up the sides of the bowl.
5. Lightly dust your hands with flour and form your pizza dough into a round ball and transfer to your olive oil-brushed bowl. Use your hands to roll the pizza dough along the inside of the bowl until it is coated in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place.
6. Allow dough to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. If you intend to bake this dough into a pizza, I also recommend preheating your oven to 400F at this point so that it will have reached temperature once your pizza is ready to bake.
7. Once the dough has risen, use your hands to gently deflate it and transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth (about 3-5 times). 
8. Use either your hands or a rolling pin to work the dough into 12" circle.
9. Transfer dough to a parchment paper lined pizza pan and either pinch the edges or fold them over to form a crust.
10. Drizzle additional olive oil (about a Tablespoon) over the top of the pizza and use your pastry brush to brush the entire surface of the pizza (including the crust) with olive oil. 
11. Use a fork to poke holes all over the center of the pizza to keep the dough from bubbling up in the oven.
12. Add desired toppings and bake in a 400F preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until toppings are golden brown. Slice and serve.

The Crust: 

You can use a rolling pin or you can use your hands. If you’re especially skilled, you can toss it up in the air and spin your dough like an Italian pizza pro, but I lack the coordination, well, more like the ability to do that. 

I use a rolling pin instead and roll the dough out into a circle or follow the shape of the pizza stone or pan I'm using.  Alternatively you can use your hands to flatten and stretch the dough until it reaches the desired width. Pinch the edges to make a crust or fold over the edges (I always fold mine over because it gives me a thicker crust, which I love), brush the entire surface of the pizza with olive oil, and use a fork to poke holes over the the dough to prevent any bubbles from forming while it bakes.
.                           Rectangle, Round and Personal size pizza and baking stones
NOTE:  If you have room in the freezer, make pizza as part of your meal plan.  :)

ENJOY!!

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