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Pizza—the ubiquitous superfood. Loved by all, tastes great cold, even when it's bad, it's still pretty good. But how is it MADE? One does not simply walk into the kitchen, pick up the phone, and pray to the Italian god of pepperoni for delivery in under 30 minutes. No, that would be too easy. In order to understand the principles of this life-giving, magical breadstuff, you must BECOME the pie, walk a mile in its shoes. Pizza is made of the Three Pillars of Life: the sauce, the dough, and the toppings. Mess up one of the pillars, and the whole house collapses. And a pie divided against itself does not stand—it is sliced into eight wonderful pockets of joy.

Homemade Pizza

Prep Time: 45 min.
Cook Time: 20 min.

Ingredients

    The sauce

  • 1 28 oz. can of whole San Marzano tomatoes, peeled
  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp. dried oregano
  • 1 tsp. dried basil
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. pepper
  • 2 tsp. olive oil

    • The dough

  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 1 envelope active yeast
  • 1 cup warm water, between 100-110°
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • 2 tsp. olive oil

    • The toppings

  • 12-16 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 20-30 slices of pepperoni, or any pre-cooked meat, such as Italian sausage, bacon, ham, etc.
  • sliced vegetables (optional), such as onions, green peppers, spinach, sautéed for 5 min. in 1 tsp. of olive oil under medium heat

Directions

  1. To make the dough, begin by adding yeast packet to 1 cup of warm water in a bowl. Add 1 tsp. of sugar to activate the yeast. Let stand 10 minutes until yeast becomes foamy. If no activity is noticed, discard yeast and use a new packet.
  2. In a large bowl, add 2 cups bread flour, 1 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. olive oil and yeast mixture. Combine and stir until rough dough is formed. Cover with a moist cloth or paper towel, and set aside in a warm place (such as a pilot-light gas-lit oven) for 30 minutes, or until dough doubles in size. You can add olive oil or a light dusting of flour to the sides of the bowl so that the rising dough does not stick to the bowl.
  3. While the dough rises, prepare the sauce. In a medium saucepan, add minced garlic to 2 tbsp. of olive oil on medium-high heat. Stir frequently for about two minutes.
  4. Add can of San Marzano tomatoes, and crush the tomatoes with a wooden spoon as you stir.
  5. Add oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese to sauce, stirring frequently under low heat for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
  6. Preheat oven to 350°.
  7. When dough has doubled in size, place onto well-floured surface. Knead the dough for about 2 minutes, stretching and pulling until it is smooth-textured. Form into a ball and flatten with your hands or a rolling pin to the size of your pizza pan, working out from the middle, until it is about 1/4 inch in thickness. If dough is sticking to the surface or your hands, add more flour. Place onto a pizza pan, working dough out to the edge, pressing down into place. Form a crust ring around the edge to hold in the toppings.
  8. Begin adding spoonfuls of sauce to the dough, spreading thinly with the back of a spoon. Less is more with pizza, so do not add too much sauce, as this makes for a soggy pizza.
  9. Add mozzarella cheese and toppings, covering top of pie evenly. Be liberal with the cheese and conservative with the toppings. If you add more than three toppings, the pizza dough begins to suffer under the weight of all the top heaviness. Add a small sprinkling of olive oil to the top of the constructed pie.
  10. Place in pre-heated oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cheese just begins to change color.