posted by: Heidi Low
My family always loved to make homemade pizza growing up and it was a great way to spend time together. Though I do love our original way, I've always wanted to find a REALLY good recipe and I finally found it! I got this from a site called Our Best Bites (found on the right side of the screen) and because I decided to do this blog today, I didn't take pictures, so I'll borrow some from there. :)
This is for either two medium sized pizza's (possibly four or five personal pizza's) or one medium and pan of 12 bread sticks.
Crust:1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 1/2 c. flour
Mix the water, sugar, and yeast together in a bowl. Let it sit for about 10 min or until the yeast looks bubbly. Add the salt and only two cups of flour to start, slowly adding the rest of the four until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. coat a metal or glass bowl with cooking spray and let the dough rise for 45 min.
Divide the dough into two equal parts (more or less depending on what you're going for)
If you're going the bread stick route, I'll put her recipe for those at the bottom.
Roll the dough out into the desired shape (use your creativity!) and transfer that onto a greased cookie sheet, or pizza stone if you have one. Preheat the oven to 425, then use a fork to poke holes over the entire surface, then coat with veg. oil and garlic salt. This keeps the crust from going soggy in the center.
Do the same for the second, then throw them in the oven for 10-12 min or until golden brown. Remove and set to the side.
Ok, now for the sauce, which I think makes the pizza...
Sauce:1 6-oz. can tomato paste
6 oz. water (just use the empty tomato paste can)
3 Tbsp. garlic bread seasoning (look at the bottom for this part)
1 Tbsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional, which means I didn't put it in :))
The best time to make this is while the dough is rising. Just throw everything together and mix well. This sauce apparently freezes really well too, but I'm just going to take her word for it because all our leftovers went towards dipping sauce for the bread!
So now you have your crust and sauce ready! Add as much sauce as you want, followed by the toppings you like. We just did cheese and pepperoni, but even though it was simple, it was delicious!
When you're done, toss it back into the oven (that is still at 425) until the cheese is melted. We actually did one until then and let the other one go until the cheese was toasted. Both were REALLY good.
For all those who want bread sticks, here's what you do... (we wanted "all of the above" so we did the recipe + 1/2 for two pizza's and the bread)
Breadsticks:Roll out into a rectangle and cut into twelve strips. Take the bread and twist it to add a little extra to it. Put the bread on a greased cookie sheet with a little space between for the next step. Let these rise for an additional 30 min.
Bake these at the same 425 for 10-12 min. Pull out and brush with butter, then sprinkle with seasoning! Done, and done!
Garlic Bread Seasoning:
1/2 c. powdered Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. Kosher salt
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. basil
2 tsp. marjoram
2 tsp. parsley
We put the extra in an empty spice bottle for next time because it made quite a bit.
In my case, i'm making these to freeze for post pregnancy dinners that I know I'm not going to be in the mood to make later, so I made this in two 8x8 pans and stuck them in the freezer. Sorry there isn't a finished pic because of that. I left off the crumbs and taped them on top to keep them from getting moist in the freezer. Trust me though, it looks and smells amazing when it's all done!
