Sunday Pizza

What do we eat every Sunday night? PIZZA! I have posted many a pizza over the years… It wouldn’t be Sunday without eating pizza from somewhere. Often, we make it together and sometimes make individual pizzas to reduce the fighting over what toppings we will order. We have been making this recipe for over 30 years! Winter, spring, summer or fall… yes this pizza can be baked in a grill when it’s too hot to heat the indoor oven?

Guess what day today is? National PIZZA Day! Usually we have pizza on Sunday… but it’s great any day! We have been making this recipe for over 30 years! Winter, spring, summer or fall… yes this pizza can be baked in the oven or a gas grill when it’s too hot to heat the house? Make one today!!

Sunday Night Pizza

Yield: One 14-inch pizza (or 2 – 3 individual 8 inch pizzas)

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 package or 1-¼ teaspoons dried yeast
1 cup warm water (~ 110 – 120 F)
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 ½ - 3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoons Corn meal
1 -2 Tablespoons olive oil

Sauce:

1- 8 ounce can tomato paste
½ cup water
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon garlic powder or 2 – cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/2 - 1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
(Or substitute 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper for a spicy sauce)
Season to taste

Toppings:

8 ounces or 2 – 3 cups grated mozzarella cheese
Your choice: sausage, pepperoni, ham, vegetables, olives, pineapple…whatever you desire!

Equipment needed:

Medium bowl
Fork
Liquid measuring cup
Dry measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Ready-read thermometer
Small bowl or large 2 cup liquid measuring cup
Large 14 inch pizza pan or deep-dish pan
2 – 3 8 inch cake pans for individual pizzas
Rolling pin
Rubber spatula
Pizza cutter or Chef knife

**Preheat oven to 425 F. Raise racks in oven so pizza will set on most bottom oven rack.

Pizza is also pretty inexpensive to make. Most of you probably spend at least $10 – 15 for a large pizza to be delivered to your door. This recipe will make a large cheese pizza for less than $5 if you have staples like flour and spices in your cupboards. I always have dried yeast in my refrigerator or freezer as well. I buy turkey Italian sausage links and freeze them in 2 – 3 link packages and always have mozzarella! What makes a great pizza? I think half of the fun is making it your self and experimenting with different toppings every week.

Pizza was the final cooking project for my Foods 1 students! After cooking for 12 weeks they put it all together with awesome results!

Pizza Crust Prep

The first step is to make the crust!

1) Place dried yeast in a medium bowl. Add sugar and salt to yeast. Measure water in a microwavable liquid measuring cup. Heat in microwave for 45 – 60 seconds depending on wattage of microwave oven until water registers 110 F. Water needs to be warm enough to activate yeast, but not too hot that it kills the yeast. Add water to yeast mixture and stir with fork until mixture becomes a creamy tan color.

Making dough is the next step.

2) The ingredient list includes a varying amount of flour due to the fact that depending on the accuracy of water measurements and the weather. Humidity in the air will affect the amount of water to liquid ratio necessary. Adding flour at ½ cup increments will reduce the chance that your dough will become dry. I prefer stirring with a fork; however, I have used a stand up mixer with a dough hook on occasion. When dough starts to pull away from the side of the bowl when stirring it is getting close to having enough flour. Dough should form a ball and not crumble, yet not be too sticky. I know this sounds vague, but making dough takes practice. You can always add more flour if too sticky, but you can’t take it out.

3) When dough is a making a ball, yet still a bit sticky, turn onto a flat surface or counter sprinkled with flour. It is time to knead the dough. Turn the dough over a couple times on flour to coat ball. Then start to fold over a few times. Kneading is a process of folding, pressing and turning until the dough forms a smooth surface. Knead the dough for 2 – 3 minutes.

4) Form the dough into a smooth ball. Let the ball rest for 5 – 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

Sauce/ Topping Prep:

Sauce has very individual preferences. The ingredients make a basic sauce and you can alter it, however, you prefer.

5) In a small bowl combine tomato paste and half a can of water until smooth. Add seasonings and mix well. Taste and adjust as necessary. Many prefer a sweeter sauce, but remember a little sugar goes a long way, so add in ¼ teaspoon increments. As the sauce sits the flavors will meld and change. Allow sauce to set for 5 – 10 minutes as you prepare the remaining ingredients. Sausage or raw meat will need to be pre-cooked. Vegetables need to be sliced or diced thinly to allow even cooking. Test sauce again right before spreading on dough.

6) Unless your pan is well seasoned some preparation will be needed. Lightly grease pan with 1 – 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Be sure to spread on sides if deep pan is used. Sprinkle pan with 2 Tablespoons corn meal. Place dough ball in center of pan if making a pan pizza, then press dough firmly and flip over pressing again to cover both sides with corn meal.

7) If making a pan pizza in a deeper pan spread dough with fingers until dough meets sides evenly by pressing and spreading. To roll dough using rolling pin, place dough on flat counter or board sprinkled with flour. Roll dough in directions pictured by arrows in diagram. Like hands on a clock, roll dough 12 to 6, 3 to 9, 10 to 4 and 2 – 8 maintaining a circle as you roll. Lift rolled dough onto lightly greased pizza pan. After dough is rolled, crimp or make a raised edge around the pizza’s edge.

8) Now you are ready for sauce. If making one large pizza, spread prepared sauce using rubber spatula evenly on crust. If you prefer less sauce use only 2/3 of the sauce, saving the rest for next week. If making smaller pizzas, use ~ ½ cup sauce per pizza. Remember, everyone likes there pizza differently… me I love sauce!

9) Add your desired toppings placing meats on bottom, then vegetables and then cheese. Your oven is not a pizza oven and will not have intense heat, so it will cook differently.

10) Make sure oven is preheated to 400 - 425 F. Place pizza on middle of bottom rack, closest to floor of oven. Bake pizza for 25 – 30 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese is golden in color. If your oven bakes unevenly, the pizza may need to be rotated once during baking. To ensure pizza is cooked thoroughly it may be darker in color than the one you get from you local pizzeria, as your oven is not the same. Wait 3 – 5 minutes before cutting to allow ingredients to set. Garnish with grated Parmesan and red pepper flakes.

** Favorite family pizzas:

Sausage, onion & green olive

Canadian bacon, onion & pineapple

Ham, onion, mushroom, red pepper and artichoke hearts