Pizza from Scratch

So my Friday nights are extremely lively out here.  I am working on a paper for class, doing laundry and just made pizza from scratch.  I'm so cool and will absolutely brag about it.

The pizza crust recipe I used is the same one my momma follows and is from Still Life Menu by Mollie Katzen.

The Crust

1/2 c. lukewarm water or milk (baby bath water temp)
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 t. salt
1T olive oil 
1 1/4 c (approx) unbleached white flour

In a mixing bowl, pour the yeast into the water.  Now, let it get foamy for a few minutes.  I have stressed patience in these posts but here it is definitely needed!

If it hasn't done anything chemically interesting in 5-10 minutes, stir it up a little.

Can you see the foaminess?  Not a great picture.

Add the salt to the mix, and you can also add any herbs you would like here.  I have a lemon-pepper-herby seasoning mix that I sprinkled in.  Anything that sounds Italian would probably be great: basil, parsley, something like that.

Mix and mix and mix.  Now remix!

Slowly start to add and incorporate the flour about 1/2 c. at a time.  Knead carefully with a spoon or your hands.  Things should start to look doughy and smooth.  Add extra flour if things are too sticky.  However, you don't want things too dry.

Transfer your dough to a different bowl that has the oil spread around it.  Roll the dough around the oil to keep things moist.  Cover the bowl with a towel and put in a warm area to rise.  Let it rise for about half an hour.

Now let science take over.

Walk away.  Watch a video on YouTube.  Do homework.

Come back to nicely risen dough and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Whoa!  It grew!

Grease a pan and start to spread out your dough.  Mine magically filled my entire pan and wasn't super thin or thick.  My mom likes to put cornmeal on the bottom of the pan so things crisp up, but I don't have any.  No worries.

Perfect fit!

It's topping time!  Top your pizza with anything!  I used spaghetti sauce to get a little saucy.  I also topped it with onions, green peppers, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.  

Feeling vegetarian tonight.

I baked my pizza for about 25 minutes to make sure the crust was done all the way through.  Now enjoy and make your roommates jealous!

Commence stuffing your face.

So Stony Brook has taught me several things, one being that hot sauce goes on everything.  Pizza, grilled cheese, cake, anything.  Just kidding!  Hot sauce and cake would be terrible.