Pizza from Scratch

Friday night at our house is usually pizza night. We don't order carry out, delivery or pop in a frozen pizza... We make it from scratch. We have go-to favorites, but we're finding new ways to use up leftovers and enjoy great pizza combinations.

Dough Recipe

I start this right after lunch to give the dough time to rise.

2 1/2 cups bread flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 scant cup water

2 tablespoons olive oil

Combine the flours, salt and yeast in the bowl of a food processor or work bowl of a stand mixer. Add the water and oil until it becomes a dough ball and allow the machine to knead it for you for a little while. If it's really sticky add a little flour, or if it doesn't come together into a dough ball add a little more water.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface to form a ball. Grease a bowl with olive oil, place dough ball inside, cover with a damp towel and allow it to rise in a warm place until about an hour before you're ready to eat.

Divide the dough into 3, roll into balls and let rest for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to at least 500 degrees with a pizza stone on the lowest rack(my oven is old and unpredictable over 500, but heat your oven to as hot as it will go).

One at a time pull each of the dough balls into a circle, taking care not to tear a hole in it. If you have a pizza peel, dust it with course corn meal, then put down the pizza crust. Top with your favorites. You can use traditional Sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, parmesan cheese. We love pesto, avocado, fresh tomato with mozzarella and parmesan. I often make a "mexican pizza" with leftover refried beans, cheddar cheese, and tomato, if I have some. Recently, I made a pizza with indian flavors using an eggplant relish as the sauce with leftover chicken, and the traditional mozzarella and parmesan. Each pizza bakes for 6ish minutes until the cheese melts and starts to brown and the dough cooks through.

You can also cook the pizzas on the grill. To make sure you don't burn the crust before you melt the cheese, make sure your cheese is room temperature when you're putting the toppings on, and leave the lid closed on the grill to create an oven-like environment for the heat to get to the cheese.

Hope pizza night becomes a regular on your menu too!