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Itza Pizza Pie!

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It’s not delivery.  It’s not DiGiorno.  It’s so much better than that…it’s homemade pizza, people!  Don’t get me wrong, I love pizza from anywhere…Christian’s Pizza, Mellow Mushroom, Pizza Ranch, Papa Johns, and in a moment of weakness for stuffed crust pizza, Pizza Hut.  There’s just something about making a pizza from scratch that’s so rewarding.  I know exactly what went into it and can customize it to my liking.  I’ve got a great recipe for thin-crust pizza below.  It’s cracker thin and doesn’t overpower the flavor of all of the toppings.  Try it out!  Add any toppings you like and you’ve got a great meal that will satisfy your craving for pizza!

Pizza Dough for Thin Crust Pizza    Print this recipe

From Food.com
Makes 2, 12″ Crusts
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (may substitute whole wheat flour for 1 cup of the all-purpose)
1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water & a sprinkle of sugar
1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil
Cornmeal, for sprinkling

Directions

In a small bowl, add the warm water with the sprinkle of sugar.  Sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit for 10 minutes.  The mixture should get foamy, if it doesn’t, dump it and start again.  The foamy mixture lets you know that the yeast is doing it’s job.
Pour the yeast mixture into a large bowl and add the flour, salt, olive oil.  Stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
On a floured surface, knead for 6-8 minutes until you have a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (you could also use a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook to make life easier).  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 20-30 minutes.
Lightly grease two 12-inch pizza pans and sprinkle with cornmeal.  Divide the dough in half.  With your hands and fingers, stretch each half of dough out to cover the pizza pan.  Allow a little more dough on the outside of the circle to form a crust.
If desired, pre-bake the dough at 425 for 10 minutes.  This makes the crust more sturdy enough to handle LOTS of toppings.  Remove from oven and spread on your pizza sauce and toppings of choice.  Bake for an additional 10-20 minutes at 425, until the toppings are hot and bubbly.
***If you aren’t making two pizzas at one time or want to make the dough ahead of time, you can easily freeze the dough.  Take a portion of dough, form into a ball, rub olive oil over it and place it in a freezer bag.  Before using, just take the dough out of the freezer and allow to thaw out (this can take a few hours)

Yeast after 10 minutes in warm water

Flour, Olive Oil, & Salt added

Knead 6-8 minutes

Smooth & elastic

Cover & let rest for 20-30 minutes

Ready to divide & roll out!

One for the freezer

One rolled out & ready for oil sauce

1/4 EVOO & 4 cloves of garlic, minced

Oil sauce on crust and ready for the oven!

Baked for 10 minutes, ready for the toppings

Toppings

8 oz. Beef Sausage

4 oz. Feta

8 oz. mozzarella

Mix of olives (about 1 cup)

Caramelized Onions

Garlic Oil Sauce (1/4 cup EVOO with 4 cloves of garlic minced in)

No tomato paste on this pizza, so I guess it’s not a vegetable…

Toppings

Beef & Bacon Sausage with Monterey Jack Cheese (ummm, delicious)

Cubed up and browned. (I used a potato masher to break the meat up)

Caramelized Onions

Olives

Olives pitted and halved

Add a little mozzarella

Some of the meat

Half of the olives

Half of the feta

More mozzarella & caramelized onions on my half

Rest of the meat and olives

Rest of the feta and finally ready for the oven!

Out of the oven 10 minutes later

Let’s take a closer look at that….

Slice it up and dish it up

Wait, I’m going to need 2 of those. Plus crushed red pepper flakes for good measure

Perhaps the best pizza I’ve made

Get in my belly!

We restrained ourselves and had some leftover

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Comments

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