Perfect Pizza

Lately, I've been on a huge pizza making experimenting kick.  I've wanted to find a really good pizza recipe. One that is tried and true and makes amazing pizza. Pizza that is even better (and of course cheaper) than take-out. Thanks to our friend Robyn, I think we've found not only a great recipe, but the right way to cook it.

So, I thought I would share some of our new found pizza making skills.

 

First of all, there are two huge secrets to making incredible homemade pizza - a baking stone (like the one's from Pampered Chef) and a pizza peel (those wooden paddle board looking things they have at those authentic brick oven pizza joints). Without those two things, you really can't get great pizza - trust me....I've tried.

Okay...with baking stone and pizza peel in hand, here is a recipe for super easy (and yummy) pizza dough:

1 1/2 C warm water

2 tsp yeast

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

4 C flour

Put the warm water in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and stir until dissolved. Add sugar. Wait 10 minutes.  Add salt, then flour one cup at a time.  Knead for five minutes. Roll in olive oil.  Let sit 1 1/2 hours or until tripled in size. Punch down and let raise 15 more minutes. 

The next really important step is to preheat the oven WITH the pizza stone inside for 30 minutes.

Then, roll out the dough into round pizza shape. (The dough is enough to make two pizzas, but we do one at a time.) Once it's rolled out, transfer the dough to the pizza peel coated with cornmeal. Then, add sauce, cheese, and toppings. One secret we've found is don't add too much cheese. You really don't need more than about 1 1/2 cups of cheese. I put one cup on the bottom, then add the toppings and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup on last.

When your pizza is ready for baking, carefully slide the pizza from the peel to the hot baking stone. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes.

Since the dough is homemade, this pizza is super filling. Our kids can rarely eat more than one slice. It's a really good and easy thing to share with friends. Another one of my favorite things about pizza is how versatile it is. Different toppings really make it a completely different experience every time. In addition to the regular fully loaded supreme style pizza, we also like chicken alfredo pizza. Instead of marinara sauce on the bottom, we put alfredo sauce. Then top with chicken, red onions, tomatoes, bacon and peppers. So yummy!!