homemade pizza

*I love the tomato, olive oil sauce- so simple and yummy! But you can easily put on your favorite pizza or spaghetti sauce. I usually split the dough in half and make the boys their own with whatever they want on it.

Margherita Pizza Ingredients

Makes one 16-inch pizza or two 12-inch pizzas

*Basic Pizza Dough (see below)

*2 pounds very ripe Roma or hot-house tomatoes

*1/4 teaspoon salt

*1/4 cup olive oil

*8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

*2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

*Coarse salt and ground black pepper

*14 small fresh basil leaves or 7 large, torn into pieces

Preparation

1. Oil the pizza pan(s) and set aside

2. Prepare the pizza dough, roll it out, and place it in the prepared pan(s).

3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

4. Peel and dice the tomatoes, discarding the seeds, and combine with the salt and 1/4 cup oil in a bowl. Spread over crust.

5. Bake 15 to 20 min on the lowest oven rack. Remove pizza from oven and arrange the mozzarella and Parmesan, if using. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle on additional olive oil. Return to oven till bubbly, 5 to 10 min.

6. Top with basil and serve immediately.

Basic Pizza Dough

Makes one 16-inch medium-crust pizza or two 12-inch thin-crust or four 8-inch thin crust pizzas.

Ingredients

*1 tablespoon active dry yeast

*1 cup warm water

*2 tablespoons olive oil

*1 tablespoons honey

*1/4 teaspoon salt

*3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour or half all-purpose and half whole wheat

Prep

1. Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl, cover and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 min.

2. Mix the oil, honey, salt, and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl. If using a food processor, add 1 cup of flour at a time, up to 3 cups, mixing well after each addition. You may have to stir in the third cup of flour by hand, depending on your machine. Or mix in all 3 cups of flour by hand with a wooden spoon.

3. If dough seems too wet, mix in more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is soft. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead in more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is moderately stiff and somewhat firm to the touch, about 6 minutes.

4. Lightly grease pizza pan(s) or a cookie sheet(s) with oil. If you are making two or more thin- crust pizzas, divide the dough. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured surface. Gently stretch the dough to fill the pans(s).

(Recipe from www.thefoodnannyrescuesdinner.com.)