sunday night homemade pizza

Although I am a Chicagoan and deep dish pizza is always my pizza of choice, it's nice to relax at home and make homemade pizza. Sundays are a big day of baking in my house, so why not add some pizza dough to the mixings?

Around 4:00 pm, my boyfriend, James, and I started making pizza dough:

1.25-2 cups bread flour

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 envelope of instant dry yeast

1 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup water, warm

2 tsp olive oil

1. Combine the yeast, sugar, and water and stir. Let sit for at least 10 minutes on a warm space (windowsill on a sunny day or on top of an oven on 200 degrees) while the yeast activates.

2. Combine bread floor, salt, and 1 tsp olive oil in the mixer bowl. Using the dough hook mixer attachment on your KitchenAid mixer, keep on speed 2, and mix. Slowly add the yeast mixture. Add a little bit of flour if your dough is too sticky. Add a little bit of water if dough it too dry.

3. Rub the other 1 tsp of olive oil around in a medium bowl. Put the dough into the bowl, knead out any air, then let sit for at least an hour. When the dough has doubled in size, it's ready to bake!

The pizza dough recipe above makes one 14 inch pizza. For 1 pizza, you will need:

1 ball of pizza dough

2-3 cups of crushed tomatoes (more if you like)

1 tbs oregano

1 pinch salt

1 large bag of mozzarella shredded cheese

Toppings optional:

1/4 onion, chopped fine

3/4 cup sausage cut into fourths

1. Optional: Sautée the onion in a fry pan in a little bit of olive oil- just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. After 3-4 minutes, add the sausage. Cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes.

2. Spread a little bit of cornmeal or olive oil onto the 14 inch baking sheet so that the pizza won't stick too much. Spread the pizza dough onto the baking sheet so that it is even all around.

3. Spread the crushed tomatoes evenly on top of the dough. Sprinkle oregano evenly on the tomato sauce. Spread 3/4 of the mozzarella cheese on top the sauce. 

4. Optional: Add the sausage and onion onto 1/2 of the pizza. Then sprinkle more cheese on top.

5. Cook at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

6. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before cutting the pizza. Then, enjoy!

I like to cut my pizza into big squares and enjoy it with a beer. I found it to be the perfect dinner to wrap up my weekend!