Fast Homemade Pizza

From williams-sonoma.com because I forgot to take pictures of the food!

I've been busy party planning instead of working on our house. Over the weekend we hosted a little get-together for old friends. To feed a dozen people with a lot of different tastes, we did pizzas with a variety of toppings and flavors - regular mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, ricotta, pears, pineapple, ham, grilled zucchini, grilled peppers and onions, mushrooms, sausage, basil. We were able to grill 2 pizzas outside on the grill over pizza stones and 2 pizzas inside in the oven. It was a lot of fun!

Since I still have pizza on the brain (and leftovers in my fridge), I wanted to share my favorite pizza recipe with you. Homemade pizza is delicious and it’s actually really easy. I made 8 balls of dough ahead of time in about 20 minutes using a food processor. Building the individual pizzas was the slow (but fun!) part. My dough recipe is adapted for the food processor, but you can also use a stand mixer or a regular bowl and spoon.


Easy Pizza Dough
This makes enough dough for one pizza. Make each ball of dough one at a time.

1 packet yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Additional water

Combine yeast, warm water and sugar in a small cup and give it a stir. Wait until it has doubled in size. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade, add flour and salt. Turn on the food processor. Add the oil and allow it to blend, then add the yeast. Add another 1/4 cup water to the yeast container (this will help swish out any remaining yeast) and slowly add additional water, a little bit at a time until the dough starts to stick together. Go slow. Stop when the dough forms a ball in the processor. Allow it to rotate around several times. Spray a medium sized bowl with nonstick cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover with a dishtowel and store in a warm place for 1-1.5 hours to let dough rise.

When the dough has doubled in size, give the dough a quick knead with your hands. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray and place ball of dough in the center. Slowly press dough out to cover the pan (this will take a minute, be patient - fill in the holes that appear and give the dough time to stretch out). Cover with sauce, cheese and desired toppings. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.


Pizza Sauce
This makes enough for two pizzas.

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
Dash of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
1 28-oz can tomato puree
2 teaspoons oregano

In a large saucepan set over medium heat, add oil, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and cook until onions are golden, for about 3 minutes. Stir in tomato puree and oregano. Simmer over low heat for 20-30 minutes.


On an un-pizza related note, we also had a chance to try out our new teal chairs around the fire pit (well, 4 of us did... the rest had to use the patio chairs or folding chairs). They are really comfortable and perfect for outdoor lounging and making s'mores.