I feel like homemade pizza has as an odd perception of being a labor intensive and difficult meal to prepare, but I’ve always found it to be a pretty simple. I think the key is how much effort you put into the crust. I’m sure there’s ways to make pizza dough that involve multiple rises and a lot more active attention, but… I am not going to work that hard for pizza. Not when it’s so simple to make a pizza dough in about 20 min and then do whatever you want for an hour while it rises. If you start at 6, you can be eating by 7:30 and have watched three episodes of a sitcom in the process.
This is an exceedinly simple recipe that I adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction, but I felt it needed to be documented, as every time I have wanted to make pizza in the past, I just Google the recipe again and go from there. I went up to visit my brother a couple weekends ago and we made homemade pizza but despite our having made it so many times in the past, we had to google a recipe again. So, this is the Formal Record of the recipe. With my own topping choices, because it’s a homemade pizza and you can do whatever you want.
My favorite addition to a homemade pizza is the sprinkle of course sea salt – a move stolen from Blaze pizza, where the sea salt is my favorite topping to add to make it feel fancier. I also have recently discovered you can buy pre-marinated artichokes in a jar, which just added another fancy ingredient I never thought you could do at home. (I tried preparing my own artichoke one time… disaster.) Then I chose pesto because I always prefer a pesto pizza. You could make this homemade, it’s not that hard, but this is all about the easiest pizza making experience. And the final step I took to really make it deluxe was to saute some onions and chopped garlic together.
You could totally make this pizza as a weeknight dinner. I just prefer it as a weekend dinner, becausepizza still always feels like a party. It also then makes good leftovers for the rest of the week. I’m a big fan of leftover pizza. It extends the party a few days. So without further ado, the easiest homemade pizza:
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PinIngredients
For the Pizza Dough:
- 1 and 1/3 cup warm water (between 100-110°F, 38-43°C)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons instant or active-dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
For the toppings (totally open for freestyle, these are just my suggestions):
- your favorite shredded mozarella (or any other cheese – it’s your pizza)
- artichokes (marinated, from a jar)
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- olive oil
- your favorite pesto
- course sea salt
Instructions
Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in a large bowl. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Mix with a spatula (or your standmixer’s dough hook on low speed) 2 minutes, until it starts coming together. It won’t totally come together until you start kneading. You can knead in the bowl or turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough for 3-4 minutes. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft, and it will be pretty sticky. Poke it with your finger – if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading.
Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray– just use the same bowl you used for the dough. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature (or on top of a slightly preheated oven for a warm environment) for 60-90 minutes or until double in size.
While it’s rising, prepare your toppings – chop vegetables, cook meats, shred cheese. I chose to saute some chopped garlic cloves and diced onions. I also chopped up a red pepper. I used pesto and artichokes from jars because I like to pretend to be fancy in the easiest way possible.
Preheat oven to 475°F. Allow it to heat for at least 15-20 minutes as you shape the pizza. Lightly grease baking sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray or olive oil, or cover with parchment paper.
Shape the dough: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Place on prepared pan and, using lightly floured hands, stretch and flatten the disc into a 12-inch circle. Lift the edge of the dough up to create a lip around the edges.
Cover dough lightly with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for a few minutes as you prepare your pizza toppings.
Top & bake the pizza: Using your fingers, push dents into the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Spread your sauce, top with your favorite toppings, and cover with cheese. If you really want to feel fancy, you can brush the crust with olive oil and sprinkle the whole pizza with course sea salt. Bake the pizza for 12-15 minutes, covering it with aluminum foil if the cheese starts to get too brown for your liking.
Slice hot pizza and serve immediately. Cover leftover pizza tightly and store in the refrigerator. Reheat as you prefer. Baked pizza slices can be frozen up to 3 months.
Wowie!!!