homemade pizza

Pizza at our house in one of those mommy's tired, quickie, week night meals.  With a little practice you can easily make homemade pizza any night of the week.

In this post I will cover:  homemade crust, homemade pizza sauce, variations on homemade crust and other pizza making tips

First, the crust


Basic Homemade Pizza Crust

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
2 1/2 teaspoons of dry yeast (that's 1 little envelope)
1 cup warm water (NOT HOT)
2 Tablespoons of olive oil

In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, salt and yeast.  Just stir with a fork until it's blended.  In a large cup combine water and oil.  Pour the water mixture into the flour mixture and stir into a dough.  Your dough may be a little lumpy.  That's OK.

freshly mixed dough


Allow the dough to rest in the mixing bowl for about 15 minutes.  (You can use this time to make the pizza sauce)

Rested dough

Pre heat the oven to 400.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface (I use my cutting board, but you could also use the counter top).  Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes).

Turn rested dough onto floured counter

Knead until smooth and elastic

Kneaded dough - Ready to Roll

New pizza makers can cut the kneaded dough ball in half and make 2 pizzas.  It's a little easier to handle that way.

Once the dough is kneaded, use a floured rolling pin to roll out the crust to your desired  shape and thickness.

Flour a rolling pin and roll your dough

Ready for the oven

Remove the cooked crust from the oven, top with sauce, cheese and your favorite toppings.




Baked crust - ready for toppings

Fresh from the oven

Bake again until the cheese is melted.

Voila PIZZA!

Slightly cooled and ready to eat!

OK.  So now that you know how to make a basic pizza dough, we can change things up!

My family LOVES a honey oat crust.  The honey oat has more fiber and a hint of sweetness.  The basic dough recipe came from the 1950's Betty Crocker Cookbook.  Honey oat is my own spin.

To make Honey Oat Pizza Crust, you all the directions listed above.  Here's the recipe

Honey Oat Pizza Crust

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon of salt
1 Tablespoon of dry yeast (that's 1 envelope)
2 Tablespoons honey
1 cup warm water (NOT HOT)
2 Tablespoons of olive oil

Mix the flour, oats, salt and yeast.  In a big cup stir together water, oil and honey.  Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture.  Then follow the directions listed above.

Cooks Tip:  Measure the oil first, then use the same spoon to measure the honey.  The oil will coat the spoon and allow the honey to slide off more easily.

Cooks Tip:  Honey Oat dough tends to be wetting and thinner than regular dough.  It's easier to mix and knead.  You will need to a little more flour than normal to knead.  Also be careful that you don't poke a hole in it while placing it on the pan to bake.

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Homemade Pizza Sauce

Pizza (or pasta) sauce is SUPER easy to make!  It's also super easy to buy.  So if you happen to have a jar of your favorite sauce lying around, by all means, use that!  If, however, you want to go with homemade, it's really very simple.

This sauce can be made with either tomato paste or tomato sauce.  I prefer paste because I can make the sauce as thick as I like.  It you've got tomato sauce on hand, use that.  The recipe listed below calls for tomato paste and water.  If you're using tomato sauce, don't add the water.

Basic Pizza Sauce

1 - 6 oz can tomato paste
3/4 c water
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1-small onion chopped
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of sugar to taste

Saute the onion in the olive oil until the onions are transparent around the edges. 
Stir in everything else.  Simmer 5 minutes over low heat.

Cook's Tip:  for thinner sauce, add more water
Cook's Tip: other optional add in's (fresh basil, garlic powder, red pepper flake or sauted shredded carrots

Sauce variations:  One of my kids HATES veggies.  I hide them in the pizza by adding shredded, sauted carrots or chopped spinach to the sauce.