Homemade Pizza

There is something you should know about me. I have a thing for Pizza. Don't worry my husband is well aware. Good thing he's not the jealous type ;)

Unfortunately I buy way too many Red Baron pizza's from the frozen food section of the grocery store. I figured I should actually try to make my own pizza and feel a little bit better about myself. Guess what? It worked :)

Who doesn't love pizza? I bet you can't name anybody you know--and if you can, that's just sad. Obviously I loved pizza as a kid. The only thing that has changed is the toppings I put on mine. I use to be purely a pepperoni kind of gal--now I've got to say a good supreme pizza really makes me weak in the knees.

This recipe I got from my friend Steph. I was surprised at how simple it was. She has more amazing recipes on her site that I suggest you go take a look at! YUMMY! I got this recipe from here.

Homemade Pizza Dough

(makes enough for 2, 12 inch pizzas.)

Ingredients:


1 3/4 c. warm water
1 (1/4 oz) pkg active dry yeast
2 tsp. salt
4 1/2 to 5 c. flour (I only used 4 1/2 on)
3 Tb. olive oil + more for the bowl

Directions:

1. Slowly and evenly sprinkle the yeast over the top of the warm water. Let sit for 10 minutes until the yeast has activated. (This is where I got really nervous. I think it was activated--but I wasn't sure. I trusted in myself and luckily--it worked. At the time, I was pretty darn sure it was a miracle!)
2. In the bowl of your mixer combine the salt and 2 cups of flour. Mix to combine.
3. Next, add the Olive Oil, yeast water, and remaining flour (be careful to do it a little at a time--the flour will go everywhere if you don't!) and mix well.
4. Take the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured surface. Knead the dough about 15 times (to remove  air from dough). Then put in a bowl and cover. Let rise for 45 minutes. (The dough should be doubled after those 45 minutes.)
5. Punch dough down and divide in half. Save half for later (freeze it) and make the other! Just get your rolling pin out (or other make-shift item you have if you don't own a rolling pin. Seriously, How do I not own a rolling pin?) You should probably punch holes in the dough with a fork to prevent air bubbles (Steph says to do this in her recipe and I missed it somehow and I got bubbles, whoops!)
6. Cook at 425 for 18 minutes.


It's delicious! She has a great Pizza sauce recipe as well. You can check that out as well from the link I added above.

Now the fun part comes in! PUt whatever you want on your pizza. For the particular pizza above I added

Steph's homemade pizza sauce
1 1/2 cups Mozzarella Cheese
1 1/2 cups Asiago Cheese
Tomato Slices
Basil (Fresh would be better but I didn't have any...)
Pine nuts.

Go crazy...
ENJOY!