Our Blissfully Delicious Life: Pizza!!

This is our typical, Friday night meal. We rent a couple of movies to watch while we snuggle up & eat pizza, picnic style, in the family room. You just can't get any more crowd pleasing or fun than homemade pizza. Every one can pick their favorite toppings & make their own pizzas. It's perfect for kids & the grown up ones too! It has taken years for me to find the perfect pizza dough recipe & this is it. I found it here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sara-moulton/pizza-dough-recipe3/index.html

Ingredients:

(For the Dough)

4 cups Bread Flour

1 1/4 cup cold Water

1/4 cup warm Water

2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast (or use 1 envelope)

1 tsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tbsp Olive Oil (plus more to coat the bowl)

(For the Tomato Sauce)

1- 15 oz can Tomato Sauce

1 tsp dried Italian Seasoning

1 tsp Garlic Powder

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Combine the yeast, warm water & sugar in bowl, I used a 2 cup glass measuring cup.

In a large mixing bowl (use a stand mixer with the dough hook, if you have one) add 3 cups of flour & the salt. Stir in the yeast mixture, cold water & olive oil. Slowly, a little at a time add the last cup of flour until the dough forms a smooth ball. You may not need the entire cup of flour. Once all the ingredients are incorporated, let the machine knead the dough for a few minutes. (Do it by hand, if not using a stand mixer.)

Lightly oil the bowl, moving the dough around in it. The dough should be really sticky but don't worry, it will come out smooth.

Let the dough rest in a draft free, warm space. I put it in the oven (not turned on) with a large bowl of warm water. You can also cover it with a clean dish towel & leave it on your counter.

While the dough is rising, make the sauce. This seriously could not be easier. Do not buy a jar of sauce for this...this simple sauce is more authentic & perfect for pizza! Mix the can of tomato sauce with the seasonings over low heat. I cook it for a little while, leaving on low so I don't have to baby sit it. After 15 minutes, or so I shut off the heat & let it sit on the stove until I'm ready to sauce the dough.

This is what the dough looks like after rising for an hour.

Dump it all out onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a floured counter. Divide the dough into the size pizzas you want to make. You could make several 'personal pizzas', I would say probably 6. I usually make 1 large, 16" and 1 medium 12". I just use a sharp knife to cut the dough, then roll into balls.

Then let the dough rise again, for 30 minutes. You can get all your ingredients together during this last rise. Cook sausage, shred cheese, etc.

After the dough has risen for the last 30 minutes, it's time to make the pizzas! Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. I use pizza pans that have holes on the bottom to let the dough cook all the way through. But sheet pans & pizza stones work too! Spray your pan with cooking spray, if you are using a metal pan. Put the round dough in the middle of the pan & stretch to desired thickness.