Homemade Pizza

Last week we made some homemade pizza for dinner. I made the crust the night before and let it sit in the fridge. Sitting like that gave it a lovely sourdough flavor. My recipe comes from Beth Hensperger's The Bread Bible. If you want to make really good bread (of all kinds) and you haven't bought this book yet, stop complaining. It's your own fault. 

For toppings we used whatever we had on hand: a bit of spaghetti sauce, mozzarella, red pepper, onion, fresh basil. I also added some red pepper flakes to the sauce because we like it hot over here. 

Pizza baked for 15 minutes in the hottest our oven could get and then we ate the entire thing watching Modern Family. I wish I had more of this pizza right now.

Pizza dough recipe follows.

The Bread Bible Pizza Dough

1 c warm water
2 tsp active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
2 1/2 - 3 cups flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
cornmeal for sprinkling


Pour warm water in a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast, sugar, and 1 tbsp flour over the surface. Stir until dissolved and let stand at room temp until foamy -about 15 minutes.

In large bowl, place oil, salt, 1 c flour, and yeast mixture. Whisk hard until smooth -3 minutes. Add remaining flour 1/2 c at a time stirring with a wooden spoon until a soft sticky dough that just clears the sides of the bowl is formed.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and vigorously knead to form a springy ball, dusting with flour only 1 tbsp at a time as needed to prevent sticking -3 minutes. should be soft, smooth and springy. Form into flattened ball.

Place dough in a deep greased container. Turn once to coat the top and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until tripled in bulk, 1 1/2 hours. If you want it to have a slightly sourdough flavor, put in fridge after rising time and let sit overnight.

If you let it sit over night in fridge, allow 45 minutes to warm up at room temperature before baking. Preheat oven to max setting (not broil)  and preheat for 20 minutes.

Shape the dough how you like depending on your cook ware. We had a cookie sheet so it was a rectangle. After shaping, brush with a bit of oil and then add your sauce and toppings.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until underside is crispy (if that's your thing) and the toppings are hot and cheese is melted.


It is so delicious.