Easy as Pie.

 

I'm a big pizza fan, and when I say big I mean HUGE. That being said, the boyfriend and I thought "how hard could it be to make pizza from scratch?" Well, I'll tell you the answer: it was SO easy.  In fact, I wish someone would have told me that earlier.  We relied on the good ol' world wide web for a recipe and were very pleased with the outcome.  Not only was it delicious, it was simple!

We put tomatoes on half the pizza and I actually wish that we put it on the whole pie. I'll surely be making more pizza from scratch in the future.  That's not to say I won't go for the restaurant pizza either as there are lots of favorites in my book!

Homemade Pizza

Tomato Sauce:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
Dash red pepper, optional

Dough:
3 cups flour, more or less
1 heaping tablespoon honey
1 heaping tablespoon oil
1 cup warm water
1 packet yeast
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Toppings:
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Tomato (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

In a medium saucepan, add a small amount of olive oil and garlic.  Cook garlic on low for about two minutes until slightly browned. Add remaining ingredients for sauce: salt, tomato paste, tomato sauce, sugar, pepper, oregano, olive oil, and red pepper. Let simmer on low on stove for about 10 minutes or until ready to use.

For the dough, mix all ingredients except for the flour. Add flour and knead until you have a ball of dough.  Let the dough sit and rise for a few minutes. The more it rises, the fluffier the dough will be.
Shape the dough into a circle and place it on a pizza stone/pan/sheet.  Spread desired amount of tomato sauce on the dough, leaving a 1-2 inch border.  Sprinkle with mozzarella and add desired toppings.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, checking often. Enjoy!


Note, my pizza pan was about 14 inches in diameter and my dough came out thicker than desired.  I recommend using less dough depending on the pan size and how thick you want the crust to be.