Easy Pizza

I'm coming back to the blogosphere because I've missed it!  Since I've been gone, I've:

• successfully survived a year in a 2 bedroom apartment with 2 kids
• built and moved into a new house (not that I built it, but you get what I mean)
• worked a little on and off in my job-before-mommy
• gone to numerous cub scout, football, and other school events
• and, had a baby!!! Whom I sort of adore.  Isn't she cute?

So needless to say, I've been a little busy and have neglected this blog.  I'd like to start posting again, as time permits.  Mostly recipes, because I love to cook and I'm always trying new recipes.  But maybe some other stuff too.


Most of my recipes are just normal, family recipes.  I grew up with old-fashioned home cooking, and that's what I like to stick to, but I usually try to make it a little healthier.  And what kids don't love pizza, so I thought I'd share my easy method for pizza.  We have 1 pizza place in our little town now that we've moved to a pretty rural area.  It's about 7 minutes away and I'm more than a little tired of it.  We have a couple more in the next town, 15 min away. 


I typically use frozen bread dough for my crust.  I just thaw it, roll it as thin as possible and top it.  I have learned it has to be really thawed, not still cold, or it's too rubbery and too hard to roll thin.  One day my father-in-law came on a Saturday to play with the kids.  I didn't have time to thaw dough and I was just trying to think of something to make them really quick.  I tried a quick, no rise dough recipe which I think I'll stick with.  My favorite pizza sauce is LaRosa's (although I'm not a big fan of their pizza), but other members of my family are sick of that sauce so for this I used Classico tomato and basil marinara sauce and it was really good.   You can do so  many variations on the topping - taco pizza, chicken/black beans/cilantro/onion/bbq sauce, buffalo chicken, veggie, thai, etc.  And of course kids love to do the make-your-own so sometimes we make individual ones.


Dough:
1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups (approximately) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
Butter, for greasing the pan


To make pizza crust, combine warm water and salt in a mixing bowl. Add about 1.5 cups of the flour along with the yeast and stir. Add remaining flour and knead into a smooth dough (add enough flour, beyond the 2.5 cups if necessary).  I use a stand mixer and the dough hook to mix this together and knead it.  Cover and set in a warm place (but you don't have to let it rise).  Roll it out to your desired thickness, put on your greased pan, add toppings and bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes.