Monday, May 5, 2014

Homemade White Pizza

slice of homemade white pizza
I'm sure that there are people out there who think that homemade pizza is just way too difficult to make. Well, I can assure you that even you can make a tasty homemade pizza. I make my dough from scratch, so to do the same, you would have to plan on around two hours before you are sampling the finished product.

To make the dough, you will need the following ingredients:

  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1 cup hot water
  • 1 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 1/2 to 3 cups of flour
Now it's time to start making the dough.
  1. Get a big bowl that you'll use for the dough to raise in. Spray this bowl with some PAM to oil it.
  2. In a small bowl, measure out around 3 cups of flour. 
  3. In a large bowl, put the sugar, olive oil, and yeast.
  4. Add the hot water to the large bowl.
  5. Stir until the ingredients are well mixed.
  6. Add the flour a bit at a time. Use a spoon to mix in the flour.
  7. When the dough starts to form a ball (usually around the 1 1/2 to 2 cup amount), put the dough on a floured cutting board.
  8. Knead in some more flour until the dough is forming a nice, non-sticky ball. Usually, I wind up using around 2 1/2 cups of flour.
  9. Put the dough in the oiled bowl, then flip it so top and bottom are oiled.
  10. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then with a small hand towel.
  11. Put the bowl in a warm place for around 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
You can now start to make the pizza.
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Spray some PAM on a cookie pan or pizza pan.
  3. Get your dough, and spread it over the pan. Make sure to give the pizza a raised crust.
  4. Bake the crust for 15 minutes.
  5. Take the crust out of the oven, and covered with desired pizza toppings and cook for another 15 minutes or so. I usually set the timer for 12 minutes, and check to see if it needs more time.
When I make pizza, I usually make a white pizza. I buy some good mozzarella cheese, and use the slice side of the grater. Sometimes, I'll sprinkle some feta cheese on the top. I spread some cheese on the pizza, then add some sautéed garlic and onions. Then I add some more cheese. 

Of course, you can put whatever you want on the pizza: mushrooms, tomatoes, fresh basil, spaghetti sauce, meat, etc. Use your imagination to satisfy your taste buds!