I love making my own pizza not only because it’s cheaper than ordering in, but also because I can play around with the toppings. Here’s your basic pizza recipe:
3.5 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup warm water (110-120F)
1 tbsp yeast
2 tbsps sugar
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 pinch of salt
0.5 cups tomato sauce
3 cups mozzarella cheese
2 ounces of pepperoni or any other topping of your choice
I usually use my food processor with a dough blade to make this dough. I used to use my Kitchenaid mixer but I keep it in a cabinet and it’s heavier to pull out every time than the food processor. In a small bowl combine the warm water with the sugar and yeast and let rest for a few minutes until foam begins to form. In the food processor, with dough blade, put in flour, salt and vegetable oil and swirl around for 10 seconds. Then as you have the blade running start pouring in the water/yeast mixture until a ball forms. Sometimes I have to add extra water, if you need to add extra stop until a ball forms. Then with the pulse button continue running the food processor until the ball goes around about 20 times. Let this dough rest in an oiled (or sprayed with Pam) bowl for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size. Then punch down the dough and form a ball. Now you can spread the dough over the cookie sheet or pizza pan you will be using. I use a cookie sheet that I spray with cooking spray and spread the dough directly over it. I use my hands and a rolling pin to spread the dough well. Then I spread the tomato sauce and sprinkle with cheese and place the topping on top of this. I bake for about 25-30 mins in a preheated oven at 375F or until golden.
Notes: I use a 16″x13″ cooking sheet to make my pizza. It makes for a big pizza. I add a baking stone to the oven and bake the pizza directly over it for the last 10 mins to make the crust at the bottom of the pizza crusty. Otherwise is more of soft bread instead of crusty pizza. To further cut down your work, use a breadmaker on dough setting to put this dough together. Use manufacturer’s directions as to order to put ingredients in. Once dough is ready all you need to do is put the pizza together.
This pizza makes 6 servings at our home. I like to make it on Fridays because we then have leftovers for lunch the next day and the next.
Cost to us:
3.5 cups flour = $0.55
1 tbsp yeast = 0.02 if I use the small packages $0.33
3 cups mozzarella = $3
2 ounces pepperoni = $0.5
0.5 cup tomato sauce = $0.3
Total Cost to us = $4.37 or $0.73 per serving
