Within the first 10 minutes (give or take) of knowing me, you’ll learn that I love pizza. I know, I know… everybody loves pizza. No – I LOVE pizza. The texture, the flavors, the versatility, the list could go on for days. A wise woman once said “If loving pizza is wrong, screw being right.” That woman was me, right here, right now.
I want to share my love of ‘za with you by showing you how awesome and easy it is to make your own homemade pizza dough. It’s seriously so simple! Not to say anything bad about delivery, frozen, or fine-dining type pizza, but homemade pizza is seriously amazing. You can get so creative with what you put on there! Or gah, just put some sauce and cheese – you can’t go wrong.
I’ve toyed around with a few different homemade dough recipes (and even a few boxed gluten-free mixes) and so far, this is my favorite. Eric (my bf) and I made this pizza last week and he said “This is the best pizza I’ve had in a long time” *gasp* …I immediately knew it was a keeper.
So, here it is without any further delay or ranting about pizza-love:
Quick & Easy Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
[This recipe makes 1 12-inch pizza crust]
1.5 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water (not hot – you’ll kill the yeast)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450°F. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water. Gently stir until it begins to look milky. Mix in flour, salt, oil, garlic and oregano. Once mixed, use your hands to knead the dough until it is soft and smooth. Let dough sit for about 5 minutes. Next, turn out the dough on a cutting board or countertop lightly sprinkled with flour. Pat the dough flat into your desired crust shape. Move dough onto a nonstick or lightly greased pan. Add toppings as desired and bake for about 15-20 mins or until crust is golden brown. Once baked to pizza perfect, DESTROY! :)
** I topped the pizza pictured with pesto sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, and chopped spinach. **
PS – I’d love to know if you try this recipe and how it turns out :)
Painted Fork 