Pizza

Who doesn't like homemade pizza? You get a crust as thin or thick as you like; as many toppings as you want; and the pleasure of making a yeast dough and watching it rise. And maybe best of all, you get to smell the deliciousness of it baking!

I've been using a particular pizza dough recipe for years that has always been good, but it baked up more like a thick bread than a crust.

Basically, recipes for pizza dough are pretty much the same. You've got water, yeast, flour, sugar, salt, and olive oil. Yesterday, after looking online at several different recipes, I came up with this recipe, which seemed like it would make just the right amount of dough for me and my gardener.

Now for the toppings! Caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, black olives, and pepperoni.
I sliced up an onion and put it in a large frying pan with a little olive oil.

I cooked it on medium-low heat until the onions caramelized, about 10-15 minutes.

Oh, I also put about 1/2 tsp sugar in with the onions. Why? Because that's what my mother did. Why did she do that? Well, because her mother did.

You get my drift... you don't have to add 1/2 tsp sugar to your onions unless your mother did... then you must.

That's just how it is.

I didn't want raw mushrooms on the pizza, so after slicing them...

I sauteed them in a little olive oil until they looked like this.

After the yeast has dissolved in some water and bubbled up a little, I added it to the flour, sugar, and salt mixture. I put the dough hook attachment on my Kitchen Aid and kneaded until the dough was smooth (5-8 minutes).

I turned the dough into a pan that I sprayed with cooking oil and rolled it around. I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for an hour to rise.

You're probably wondering what all those little specks of foreign matter are in my dough. Not to worry... I added some dried parsley while I was mixing the dough... just for fun.

I gathered the toppings for the pizza.

When the dough had doubled in size, I punched it down and let it rest for about 5 minutes. I cut it in half and formed my pizza on an oiled baking sheet.

If you stretch the dough out and it springs right back to where it was, that's okay... just keep smooshing it around in the shape you want and eventually it will keep its shape. That's one reason to let it sit for 5 minutes after you punch it down... it has something or other to do with gluten... or something... I don't know.

I covered the dough with spaghetti sauce (from a jar, but you can make your own, if you'd like, or just use canned tomato sauce).

I put all the yummy toppings on the dough.

Oops, I think I should have put the cheese on first. Oh well... you can put cheese on first, or last, it doesn't really matter when it's all cooked up.

See... there's the cheese. On last. Right where it should be.

I baked these at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes or so.

You'll know when they're done... the crust will be browned and crispy and the cheese will be melted, and it will smell so good! You don't want to undercook it so the dough is gummy inside, and you don't want to burn it. So, somewhere in the middle of raw and burnt is really what you're looking for. Duh.

I got my pizza wheel out and did a number on those, let me tell ya! They were delicioso... SO delicioso that I had some for breakfast this morning!

You haven't?? Oh, you just gotta try homemade pizza for breakfast!