Better Than Take-Out Homemade Pizza

Who doesn't love pizza night! We usually have pizza night Friday or Saturday night and it's something we look forward to. I think part of the reason is because my husband and I spent the first two years of our marriage perfecting our pizza recipe. Some people start their marriages out renovating or traveling the world... we spent it making pizza! (We did do some renovating too).

Our idea of a perfect pizza is a thin crust that has a crispy bottom complimented with a layer of doughiness on top. We decorate our pizza heavier on the sauce and lighter on the cheese. One of our secrets is to use a combination of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. The sky's the limit when it comes to toppings, but our favorites are turkey pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers (Andrew likes banana peppers... I usually pick them off), and purple onions. The finishing touch... sprinkling the pizza with dried basil from the garden as well as a dash of oregano. If you like a little spice garnish with crushed red pepper flakes.

Happy Pizza night!  

What are your favorite pizza toppings? 

Yield: 1- 12 inch Pizza or 2 small 6-inch pizzasAuthor: Greeting Tree FarmPin it

Better Than Take-Out Homemade Pizza

prep time: 1 hour cook time: 10 MINStotal time: 1 hours and 10 mins

Nothing beats a pizza recipe that is simple, yet delicious! To achieve ideal flavor be sure to use fresh ingredients when possible.

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough

• 3/4 cup (6 ounces)  of lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon active-dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of fine sea salt
• 2 cups (10 ounces) of unbleached, all-purpose flour

Pizza Toppings

• 1- 16 ounce jar of pizza sauce
• 3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup diced purple onion
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• Turkey pepperoni (enough to your liking 
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Crushed red pepper flakes for garnish
• Optional: 1/4 cup banana peppers

Instructions:

1. Take middle rack out of oven, place pizza stone or cast iron pizza pan in the center of the bottom rack,  and preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. For the pizza dough, in a medium size bowl, combine the water and yeast and stir until yeast is dissolved.  Add the salt and the flour and mix until the mixture resembles a shaggy dough.
3. On a clean and lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 5 minutes and until the dough feels smooth and elastic, yet moist and slightly tacky. 
4. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a towel and set in a warm place for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.  After rising you can refrigerate the dough and use it within 3 days. 
5. Cut a large enough piece of parchment paper to fit under rolled out pizza crust (approximately 12 inches) and place on top of a cutting board. 
6. Using your fingers, gently press out your dough on top of the parchment paper to form a large circle to a 1/4 of an inch thickness.  For a thinner crust use a rolling pin. 
7. Spoon desired amount of pizza sauce onto the center of your rolled out crust and using a rubber spatula spread evenly over crust leaving a 1 inch space around the perimeter with no sauce. 
8. Add 1/2 of the cheese on top of the sauce and then decorate the pizza with desired toppings. Finish with the rest of the cheese, basil, and oregano. 
9. Using the cutting board for transport, transfer the pizza with the parchment paper to the oven and slide pizza with parchment paper onto the pizza stone/ pan. Bake for 5 minutes. 
10. After 5 minutes, rotate the pizza and remove the parchment paper. Bake for another 5-8 minutes. 
11. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting into slices. 
12. Optional: garnish with crushed red pepper flakes. 

http://www.greetingtreefarm.com/2018/03/better-than-take-out-homemade-pizza.html

https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-homemade-thin-crust-pizza-recipes-from-the-kitchn-45499

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References:

https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-homemade-thin-crust-pizza-recipes-from-the-kitchn-45499