Pizza, Please!

If you’ve been following me for long, you know Friday nights are for PIZZA at the Cates’ house. This is a very strict policy. Nothing else will do. If we’re not home all day or have something crazy going on, we’re not adamantly opposed to take-out, but our one, true love is homemade pizza. Paired with our bouts of Friday Family Fun (for weekly ideas, follow me on Instagram!), Fridays are highly anticipated around here.

I started making pizza from scratch a few years ago when I went on a journey to clean eating. Ever since, when we make the choice to pick up a pizza or buy a frozen one, the fact that I don’t know exactly what I’m eating nags me to my core (ahem, but apparently not enough to deter me from consuming it). Read more about what I’ve learned about clean eating on this post.

Making pizza from scratch is way too easy to not be doing it. My recipe is nothing special or out of the ordinary, but I’ve had some people ask, so I’m sharing!

Like me, you’ll soon have this recipe memorized if you use the three, two, one, rule: three cups of flour (you can use whole wheat flour, but I just don’t love the taste when used for pizza dough); two tablespoons of olive oil; one cup of warm water, one teaspoon of salt, and one packet of fast-rising yeast. (Okay, so it’s the three, two, one, one, one rule.)

I put one cup of warm water in my glass measuring cup and whisk in the yeast. You’re supposed to let it bubble up, but I never do. (I’m not a chef, people. Plus, I’m really excited about eating pizza.) I add the olive oil and salt to the yeast/water mixture and whisk it together.

I put the flour into my stand mixer. (Before I had a stand mixer, I mixed the dough by hand like some sort of pilgrim. It works just the same either way.)

I then pour the water mixture over the flour and mix away with the dough hook until it becomes a ball of dough. (If it’s sticky, dust some more flour in there. If it’s too dry to stick together, add a few drops of water.)

When I plan in advance, I let it rise. When I’m making it at the last minute, I don’t. If you have time, lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough inside. cover it with plastic wrap or a hand towel and let it rise for a few hours. If you want pizza like now, go ahead and roll it out. It’s definitely easier to roll once it’s risen, and the dough also cooks with a much more airy, less dense consistency, but again – I sometimes skip this step and get down to business. Nobody likes a hangry mom!

I live for thin crust, so I split this one recipe into two crusts. If you want a thicker crust, use this recipe for one or double it for two. Fold over the sides if you have enough dough left to do so. Our pizzas usually end up having some portions folded over and some not.

Once it’s rolled out (I never get a perfect circle or rectangle…and I don’t care), I put the sauce on. I either use simple canned tomato sauce or some spaghetti sauce I have on hand. If it’s simple tomato sauce, I sprinkle a very light dusting of garlic powder or garlic salt onto the sauce.

If I’m making cheese pizza, I add the mozzarella, plenty of parmesan, and parsley.

If I’m making pepperoni pizza, I put a heavy layer of pepperonis directly onto the sauce, then add mozzarella, more pepperonis, parmesan, and parsley. Add whatever toppings you want! I also love adding sausage or ground beef. We don’t get too crazy around here. Well, with pizza toppings, anyway.

Cook your pizzas one at a time on the middle rack in the oven for ten minutes at 500 degrees. I try to finish cleaning the kitchen while the pizza is cooking. Then, my reward is getting to eat it! Make sure the cheese is brown and bubbling before you take it out.

Enjoy your homemade pizza knowing you are eating real, fresh, ingredients made with your very own hands!

Tips to make it even easier:

I use this Kitchen-Aid stand mixer.

My food processor grates cheese! I usually grate it in large batches. It takes seconds!