Homemade Pizza and Pizza Crust!

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast (I used 1 packet of red star platinum yeast)
• 1 1/3 cups warm water between 105-115F
• 3 ½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
• ½ Tablespoon cornmeal

Toppings:

• Pesto sauce
• Spinach
• Artichoke Hearts
• Fresh Mozzarella cheese
• Salt
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat water until it is between 105-115F (I use a turkey thermometer to check the water’s temperature). Once it has reached this temperature add the yeast, stir, and then let it sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy and fully dissolved. If the yeast doesn’t dissolve, this means it is dead and you’ll need to start over again with active yeast.

2. Add in the flour, olive oil, salt, and sugar. Mix by hand for 1 minute.

3. Start kneading for 7 minutes (I just use my hand to knead, if you have a dough hook you can use that on low-medium speed). If dough is too wet, add a little more flour. After the kneading the dough should feel smooth. Poke it with your finger and it should slowly bounce back up—that lets you know it is ready to rise. If this does not happen, knead a little longer.

4. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a mixing bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm environment (about 75-80F) for about 2 hours.

5. Punch the dough so that the air is released.

6. Split the dough into two pieces and form each part into a ball (if I want smaller pizza’s I’ll divide it into 3 balls). Let each one rest for about 15 minutes, or you can freeze a ball to use later—however I think it tastes best when used fresh!

7. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees and allow the oven to fully heat up.

8. Grease a pizza pan with olive oil and sprinkle it with the cornmeal (this adds more flavor and a slight crunch).

9. Flatten each dough ball on a lightly floured surface. Then, place on the pizza pan and lift/pinch the edges of the pizza slightly to form the rim of the crust. Now push some dents into the dough using your fingers—this prevents bubbles from forming. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

10. Add desired toppings. For my Spinach Pizza (pictured above) I brush a light amount of pesto sauce on the crust, add spinach and artichokes, lightly salt it, and top with fresh mozzarella cheese. Once it’s out of the oven I add sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese.   

11. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Depends on how brown you want your crust.

12. Slice and serve the pizza!