Cheese, sauce, dough... Oh my~

Hello! Sorry for taking so long to do another post; it’s been a busy week. I hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July! Today’s post is… PIZZA! This is my favorite pizza recipe, and it is simple, fun, and yummy! I’m a believer of the idea that food tastes better when you make it yourself, and pizza already tastes amazing, so pizza + homemade = A+ deliciousness~

Ingredients:

DOUGH

·      2.5 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for kneading (about ½ cup extra)

·      2.5 tsp salt

·      2 tsp sugar

·      1 package (about 2.25 tsp) high-rise yeast

·      1 cup warm water (roughly between 110ºF and 125ºF, or just warm to the touch)

·      2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus 1tsp vegetable oil

TOPPINGS

·      2 tbsp vegetable oil

·      Tomato sauce (as much as desired)

·      Grated mozzarella cheese (as much as desired)

·      Salt and pepper, to taste

·      Any other toppings you would like to put on your pizza

Add the 2.5 cups of flour, salt, sugar, and yeast to a medium sized bowl and stir to combine. Pour the water and the 2 tbsp oil into the dry ingredients and mix until a sticky dough forms. Dust your workspace with flour, dump the dough and any extra dry ingredients from the bowl onto the area, and begin kneading the dough until the dough is no longer sticky (should take between 15-20 minutes). Wash out the bowl you used for the dough and pour the 1 tsp oil into it. Use your hand to spread the oil around the bowl, place the dough ball into it, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and put the dough in a “warm place” for about 45 minutes. For this step, I set my oven up by selecting “Proof,” then “Light Batter;” the oven temperature should be about 110ºF.

Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil and preheat the oven to 425ºF (if your dough is in the oven, remove it before preheating). Divide the dough into two pieces and flatten them into rectangles or circles on the aluminum-lined trays. Drizzle 1 tbsp oil onto each pizza dough piece and spread it out. Add tomato sauce on pizza dough as you would like it, making sure to leave edges of the dough untouched by sauce for the crust! Cover the sauce areas with mozzarella cheese, sprinkle salt and pepper to taste over the cheese, throw on your favorite pizza toppings, and put the two trays in the oven for 10-12 minutes. After pulling the trays out of the oven, let them cool for 5-10 minutes (the pizzas will be super hot!), cut slices using a pizza cutter or knife, and enjoy your homemade pizza!

That was definitely a very long set of instructions, but thanks for hanging in there! I hope you love this recipe just as much, if not more, than I do!