How to Cook : Pizza

I really can’t believe, out of all the recipe posts I’ve done, that I’ve never done pizza! It’s an almost-weekly meal at our house during the fall, winter & spring months. (And I’m working on mastering pizza on the grill in the summer.)

When the girls were littler and had fewer activities, every week we had “Friday Night Pizza Night”. It was the one night of the week we let the kids drink pop for supper and eat in the living room. These days I just try to make it on any night of the week that we’re all home together, and we still drink pop and eat in the living room 🙂

Assembled pizza’s, ready to go in the oven

First, the crust! This is a nice, soft, slightly chewy crust. You can make it in a bread machine, stand mixer, or by hand. Prebake for 5 to 10 minutes, then top with your favorite pizza sauce.

Next, the toppings. We have lots of good things to choose from at the farm. Italian sausage comes already seasoned, just brown it before topping your pizza. And our Italian sausage is MSG-free! Ground pork can be seasoned to your own taste (but here are some ideas to get you started!). Our cottage bacon has a Candian bacon taste, wonderful for pizza! Or how about bacon cheeseburger pizza with regular bacon and ground beef?

Finish it all off with cheese of your choice and bake for 13 to 18 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is baked through.

The finished product!

Homemade Pizza
1 cup warm water
2 T. oil
1 T. yeast
1 T. sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
2 t. parmesan cheese
1/2 t. Italian seasoning

Place dough on baking stone and let rest 10 minutes. Roll out and let rest another 10 minutes (or more, for a thicker crust.) Bake 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, add toppings, and return to oven. Bake an additional 13 to 18 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is baked through.