Pizza, Anyone?

For those who know me, you know I sell, on a low level, Challahs out of my house (sorry, folks, that's one recipe that simply does NOT get posted...). One day, someone came to me and asked me if my Challahs were any good. I answered, "This is my philosophy: I only make the best for my family. I make these Challahs primarily for my family and happen to sell the extras. I would NEVER feed my family anything than the best-tasting food. If it doesn't taste good, I rework a recipe until it does, and if it never does, I don't bother with it again. So, my Challaha are the best because that's all I feed my family." I didn't say this out of haughtiness. I said it because I mean it. When I was in Yeshiva, there were countless times when I wanted to take the slop the cook made back to him and ask him if he would proudly feed this to his family. I never did because I have more Derech Eretz than that. But boy, it sure was tempting.

During the Nine Days, it's not easy to come up with so many Dairy or Pareve meals in a row (thank God Shabbos breaks it up, sometimes!!). This Pizza recipe is a good way to surprise the family, and it's really easy to make!

So, with all that said, I finally found and reworked a pizza recipe. It's better than what you can get in the pizza restaurants, cheaper, and is an easy, wonderful meal to make that everyone in the family will love.

Dough:

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white sugar
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, olive oil, salt, white sugar and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine. Beat well until a stiff dough has formed. Add flour if needed and knead until dough is tacky, not sticky (this means your hand sticks slightly to the dough but no dough is still stuck to your hand after you've removed it). Cover and rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes to one hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Form dough into a round and roll out into a pizza crust shape.

This recipe makes ONE pizza. If you want two pizzas, double the recipe. Three, triple it. It's very straightforward. I usually double the recipe. It all goes REALLY FAST!!

Sauce:

One can (15 oz) tomato sauce (buy store brand; it's cheaper!)
3 Tablespoons Sugar (a little more if you like sweeter sauce)
a dash of salt and pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Basil
1/2 Teaspoon Oregano

Mix it all up. It should have a nice slightly salty, slightly sweet taste!

Cheese - I use shredded Mozzarella and Cheddar. Put on as much as you want. I use an 8 oz package per pizza.

Cover dough with sauce, cheese, and whatever toppings you like (peppers, mushrooms, onions, fake pepperoni, whatever you like!!) and bake in preheated oven (350 degrees F, 175 C) until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Slice, enjoy, and careful! It's hot!!!