a go-to recipe: homemade veggie pizza

Pizza is a staple around this house.  I love making it because it's easy, tastes amazing, and you can just use whatever you have on hand for toppings.

Something I recently started doing was making my own dough, and let me tell you, it is worth it.  I've used refrigerated crusts, bags where you add the water, and even frozen crusts from our local dough factory and none of them compare to having it freshly made in your kitchen.  (And it's not that hard!)

Here's what you need to do:

 

Combine a packet of instant or RapidRise yeast (found in the baking aisle), 1 c. hot water, 2 t. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and a few shakes of salt into a Kitchen Aid mixer bowl.  (Just use a regular bowl if you don't have a mixer).  Stir.

 

Add 2 1/2 cups of flour, stir with a wooden spoon.

 

Place some EVOO at the bottom of your mixer bowl.  Use the dough hook on your mixer and knead for 5 minutes at speed level 4.  If you don't have a mixer, you'll have to knead the dough by hand (have fun).

 

 

Put more EVOO at the bottom of your bowl, covering dough on both sides.  Cover bowl with a towel and let sit for 20 minutes to allow the dough to rise.  Preheat your oven to 425°.

 

Flour your countertop as well as the dough and roll out to your desrired size/shape.  I couldn't find my rolling pin (ehem, Patrick) so I just did the whole pizza-chef-stretch-thing and it worked fine!

 

 

For all my pizzas (and a million other things), I use my Pampered Chef large bar pan, but you can use whatever pan/stone you like.  Put a good amount of EVOO on the bottom to prevent sticking, press in your dough, and put more EVOO on top! 

 

For the particular veggie pizza that I made, I also added some dried basil & oregano at this point.  Bake for 10 minutes.

 

 

Slice your vegetables - the key is to slice them very thin so they get good and soft in the oven.  I used zucchini, red onion and plum tomatoes.

 

When your dough is ready, cover it with your cheese (I used a combination of cheddar & mozzarella).  Then add your veggies, and cover with a little bit more cheese, seasoning and EVOO.

 

Bake 10 more minutes.

 

Now if you like your crust soft, just plan to be finished at this point.  But if you like your crust a little crunchy like the the restaurants make it, keep the pizza in the oven and turn your broiler on to high for just 2 or 3 minutes.  It makes a huge difference - your cheese and crust will turn golden brown, making it pizza perfection. 

 

Bon appetit!