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Home-Made Pizza

Pizza Sauce

Many people buy canned pizza sauce. However, it is very easy to make and you can adjust the taste to your liking and it is very inexpensive to make it yourself!

Yield: 2 cups (enough for 3 pizzas, depending on how much sauce you like)

Ingredients

  • 1 jar of puréed tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 large garlic cloves, minced (or 2 tbsp. jar garlic)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 3 to 4 fresh basil leaves, whole

Preparation Procedure

  1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.
  2. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant and light golden.
  3. Add tomatoes and salt. Cook for 1 minute. Stir continuously.
  4. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
  5. Add pepper. Stir in oregano and basil.
  6. Let sauce cool before using.

Pizza Dough

The pizza dough recipe is simply a modified bread-dough recipe from a chef friend who lives in Kingston Ontario. It's very easy and very tasty!

Yield: 2 pizza crusts

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp yeast
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1-1/2 cups warm water
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 4-5 cups flour

Preparation Procedure

  1. Place yeast , sugar, and water together in a large bowl and leave to proof for 10 minutes.
  2. Add first cup of flour and stir. Continue adding flour one cup at a time until you find it difficult to stir with your spoon. This usually happens around 3 cups.
  3. Place a small quantity of flour on your work surface and plop the dough onto it.
  4. Flour your hands and dust the dough with flour. Begin the kneading process. Do not "break" the exterior surface of the dough when you're kneading.
  5. Using a clean bowl, oil the bowl and drop the dough in upside down (i.e., seam on the bottom). Swirl it around a bit and then turn it upright. Cover with a tea towel or plastic bag leaving a little breathing space.  (for pizza dough left to rise for hours and hours, you don't need to worry about the "seam")
  6. Leave dough in a warm place away from drafts for an hour or two to double in size. Punch down and cut dough in half.
  7. Stretch dough by hand to fit pans. If dough has risen several hours or overnight, this will be easy to do. If it has risen for only an hour or two, using a rolling pin will be easier.
  8. Prepare pizza pans (or cookie sheets) with some olive oil and some cornmeal to prevent sticking.

Pizza

Pizza is a great food. It is adaptable to nearly anyone's tastes. When my children were little, we used to have a B.Y.O.P. (Build-Your-Own-Pizza) night every Friday. They loved it! I would have the sauce made up ahead of time and the dough would be formed into a crust all ready for them to build the pizza. I would cut up all of the toppings and they could choose their own and personalize the pizza however they liked. Even left-over pizza is great...even frozen!

Yield: 2 pizzas

Ingredients

  • sauce, see above sauce recipe
  • dough, see above dough recipe
  • toppings (cook's choice: mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, ham, pineapple, anchovies, green pepper, bacon, artichoke hearts, etc.)

Preparation Procedure

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F
  2. Divide dough into two portions.
  3. Form each into 16" rounds and place on a pizza pan.
  4. Pinch the outer 1-inch edge of the dough to make a lip.
  5. Drizzle 1 tsp olive oil over each round of pizza dough.
  6. Divide pizza sauce over the two rounds.
  7. Add your favourite toppings!
  8. Bake pies for 15-20 minutes until the edges of the dough are golden brown and the cheeze is bubbling.
Home-Made Pizza

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