February 17, 2010

Homemade Pizza

We love homemade pizza in our house. It is so much tastier than from the store or the freezer section. We made our for a party. The perfect food. Who doesn't love pizza. And an added bonus? Everyone gets exactly what they want. One fun party idea: pot luck toppings, everyone bring their favorite. My favorite? Fresh tomatoes. Or maybe caramelized onions.


Pizza Dough
adapted from Bobby Flay
2/3 c lukewarm water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for oiling bowl
1 3/4 to 2 c flour
2 tsp coarse salt
cornmeal

In a bowl stir together 1/3 cup water, yeast, and sugar and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/3 cup water, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 3/4 cups flour, and salt and blend until the mixture forms a dough. Put dough hook on your mixer and knead for a 5-10 minutes until dough looks smooth and doesn't stick to sides of the bowl. You may need to add some more flour. (Add a couple tablespoons at a time.)
Lightly oil the sides and bottom of a large bowl with oil, add the dough, turn to coat in the oil, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Sprinkle baking sheet with corn meal. Gently punch the dough down and divide into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece on a lightly floured surface into a 10-inch circle that is 1/8-inch thick. Brush off excess flour and transfer the dough to baking sheet. Top with sauce, cheese, and favorite toppings. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until crust is cooked and cheese is melted.

9 comments:

melimba said...

who knew that you were such a great recipe lady?! I knew you had this blog, but I think I've only checked it a time or two! HOLY COW, girl!
Look at all the fancy schmancy things you make!

ok, let's talk reality. How hard is it to work with yeast. I am SO afraid of it, and thus have NEVER made ANYTHING that requires it. But, Tillie LOVES pizza, and it is expensive to buy the GOOD kind of frozen pizzas all the time, so I'm thinking I'd venture out and try your recipe. BUT, before I do, what kind of PIZZA SAUCE do you use and think is most delicious??

holler whenever you have a second! And, holy cow, look how many FOLLOWERS YOU HAVE?! Sheesh, how have I missed this site for so long?! YOU GO, GIRL!!!

Hil said...

y.u.m. we made homemade skillet pizzas for valentine's day... but i like your topping choices much better than ours! those look so good!

Your blog always makes me hungry. Thanks for sharing.

Hannah said...

oh my, Sar! This looks delish. You must inherited pizza making skills from Grandpa Smith.

Emily said...

Okay, your photo at the top of this post had me wiping drool from my mouth. Yum! We love homemade pizza but I always use a simple focaccia recipe for the dough. I'll have to try this one--do you know if you can do it in the bread machine on a dough cycle first? (Yes, I'm lazy like that!)

Sarah said...

melimba - yeast isn't that scary, trust me. It is worth the plunge. My biggest mistakes were killing the yeast with too hot of milk or water. If you don't buy those individually packaged yeasts, store your jar in the freezer - it keeps longer. Email me if you have more questions! I love making bread. It's like therapy to me.

Sarah said...

Hil - mmm! Skillet pizza! Never tried it, but I will.

Emily - To be honest, I have never used a bread machine. I have never had the space to put one. I am sure you could use it though. It is just kneading... its all the same right?

Luisa said...

The pizza looks great. I'm glad I'm not the only one who does pizza night at home. We do pizza night here about once a week where I make 3 or 4 pizzas. One dairy free so it's allergy friendly. For tonight or tomorrow night I'm making the carmalized onions and the sweet potatoes. I hope they don't burn :)

Cindy said...

Homemade pizza is the best! Great topping choices. I love to top pizza just out of the oven with fresh basil.

Sarah said...

Mmm Cindy - me too. (Its just so expensive this time of year)

Luisa - if you put caramelized onions on your pizza, undercook them. They brown really fast because the sugars are already brought out (or put them under the cheese)