Homemade Pizza...Better than Takeout!

We are big homemade pizza fans.  I make it at least twice a month, in one form or another.  I made some for dinner last night so I thought I would post about it:)

Ok, here are the things you need to make really good pizza.
1. A pizza stone.  This is imperative.  You can buy them for pretty cheap, but those ones tend to break.  I just bought a large rectangular one for $35 on Amazon.  It is thicker than my other ones have been so I am hoping it will last.  HERE is the one I got.  It had good reviews.  Some people say you can also just get an unglazed terra cotta tile.  It would be cheap.

2.  A pizza peel.  This is also imperative.  This is how you put the pizza into the oven and take it out.  You need this because the stone has to be in the oven and super hot.  HERE is one you can get on Amazon.

3. Parchment paper.  This is what you will use to roll the dough out onto.  Then you will use your peel to transfer the pizza and parchment to the stone.  It will keep your stone cleaner and eliminate the need for excess flour or cornmeal, which is what is normally used to keep the crust from sticking to the board.  You can buy it in rolls.  Just buy the cheapest stuff you can find.  I have also bought some large sheets that I cut in half to line my cookie sheets on....saves alot of cleanup!

4.  My recipe! This is imperative if you want your pizza to be delicious...ha ha!  Just kidding.  You can use any recipe you like, but I will post mine here for you to try.

Recipe:  Homemade Pizza

From the Kitchen of:  Emily Nelson

Yield:  3-4 pizza crusts,depending on size

Ingredients:

`2 Tbsp. instant yeast

`1 Tbsp. brown sugar

`2 c. warm water –not too hot or you will kill your yeast. It should be about 100°

`1.5 tsp. salt

`3 tbsp. olive oil

`5 c. flour

Pizza Toppings: (obviously use whatever you like on your pizza)

`marinara sauce (I use my homemade sauce or Prego Roasted Garlic and Parmesan) Just use a very thin layer...don't go overboard

`shredded mozzarella (again, use less than you think...it will spread out some when it melts)

`pepperoni

`thinly sliced red onion strips

`thinly sliced baby sweet peppers (red, yellow, and orange)

Directions: 

To make crust:

In bowl of your electric mixer, combine water and yeast and sugar.  Add 1 cup of the flour.  Add salt and oil.  Add another cup of  flour.   With dough hook, allow mixer to mix this for about 5 minutes to build up the gluten.  Add the rest of the flour until the dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl.  Knead for about 8-10 minutes.  Form into 2 balls and put in plastic zipper bags sprayed inside with Pam.  Store in the fridge over night. (or use it that same day) 

To make pizza:

Preheat your oven and pizza stone for at least 1 hour at 500 degrees.  Let dough come to room temp before using.  Take about half of the dough balls, (1/4 of recipe) and roll it out on your parchment paper using a floured rolling pin.  You can also just press it out with your fingers.  Get it to desired thickness of crust, but not more than ¼” thick in center.  Brush edges with olive oil and sprinkle with seasonings such as garlic salt, if desired.  Add toppings.  Slide onto your pizza peel and transfer to pizza stone.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is browned and bubbly. Remove from oven with pizza peel.