Pizza!

Pizza for supper tonight!  I make my own dough and then make my own tomato sauce and top it with whatever I have on hand.  Here is how I do it.

I use the bread maker to mix my dough and it takes only 50 minutes.  But you can mix the dough by hand, knead it for about 10 minutes and then let it rise for about 40 minutes.

Pizza Dough Ingredients (yields dough for 2, 12 inch pies):

• 1 plus 1/2 Cups of water
• 1 pack of active dry yeast
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 4 plus 1/4 Cups four

Proof the yeast by dissolving it into 1/2 cup of the warm water in a small bowl.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes until it is foamy.  Put the other 1 Cup of warm water and the olive oil into the bread maker.  Add proofed yeast liquid.  Add dry ingredients into bread maker.  Set bread maker for “pizza dough” cycle.  If you only have a “dough” cycle then use it and set a timer so that you remove the dough in 50 minutes (most dough cycles go for 1 1/2 hours and that will allow the dough for the pizza to rise too high).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Gather your pizza toppings so that when the dough is ready you can assemble for yummy pizza pie.

Remove the dough from the bread maker to a floured counter.  Punch the dough down and separate into two equal parts.  Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

Roll dough out for 2 pies.  Put onto pizza pans and brush with olive oil (I also sprinkle a little garlic powder on mine).  Top with sauce and other toppings, finishing with cheese as last layer.  hint: if you are making a vegetable pizza or one that has many toppings on it you should precook the crust for about 10 minutes before topping it so that it does not get soggy.

Bake the pies for 12-15 minutes (maybe a little less if crust precooked) until the cheese is melted and begins to bubble.

Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting it.  This allows the cheese to set and makes cutting it a little easier.

Enjoy with a side salad or some potato chips and a cold beverage.