Photos here.
Here is where you get to be creative by playing around with the choice of toppings. The entire pizza is made from scratch, starting from the bottom with the crust. It doesn't take too long to prepare (about 1 hour 15 minutes) because the dough uses quick-rising yeast. (Too much time on your hands? Substitute traditional active dry yeast for the quick-rising yeast. After kneading the dough, let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Too little time on your hands? Substitute canned pizza sauce or tomato sauce for the homemade pizza sauce, and substitute Pilsbury pizza dough for the bread dough.)
| Sauce 1 tsp olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced ½ cup diced onion 398-mL can whole or crushed tomatoes 78-mL can tomato paste 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar ½ tbsp basil 1 tsp oregano 1 bay leaf |
Dough 1 tbsp quick-rising active dry yeast 1 tsp sugar ¼ cup warm water 1 cup water 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tsp salt 3 cups (approximately) all-purpose flour |
Suggestions for toppings (any combination of the following)
250 g to 340 g mozzarella cheese, grated
sliced cold meats (salami, pepperoni, or ham), cooked sausage,
cooked ground beef, or cooked chicken
green or red pepper, thinly sliced or chopped
mushrooms, thinly sliced
onion, thinly sliced
other ingredients that work well are zucchini, eggplant, pine
nuts, canned sliced pineapple
Prepare sauce: Sautée garlic and onion with olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes until onion is translucent. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, sugar, basil, oregano and bay leaf. Break up the tomatoes with a spoon. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. (In the meantime, you can prepare the dough.) Remove sauce from heat and let cool. Remove bay leaf.
Prepare dough: Sprinkle yeast and sugar over the ¼ cup warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat together the water, vegetable oil and salt until warm to the touch. Stir in the yeast mixture. Gradually stir in about 2 cups of the flour to form a moist sticky batter. Beat in more of the remaining flour to form a soft dough. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Brush vegetable oil or melted butter over the surface of the dough (so that it doesn't dry out) and let rest in a covered bowl for 15 minutes. (In the meantime, you can chop the topping ingredients and grate the cheese.)
Assemble the pizza: Cut the dough into two equal pieces. Roll out each half on a lightly floured surface, to fit a 12-inch round pizza pan. (If you don't have a rolling pin, use your hands to flatten and stretch the dough to the desired shape and size.) Spread each crust with half of the sauce. Sprinkle a thin layer of cheese over the sauce, then add the rest of the toppings. (Place the mushrooms and zucchini on top since they tend to sweat). Sprinkle some more cheese over everything. Fold the edge of the dough over to build up a pizza crust ledge. Brush the ledge with melted butter.
Bake in a preheated 425°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until cheese is browned and
dough is cooked. Makes two 12-inch diametre pizzas.
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