You’re the boss, Brandice

Homemade pizza

I love homemade pizza!!! It is one of my favorite things to make.

I usually make my crust with mostly whole wheat flour, but you can use white if you like.

This recipe is easily doubled.

You will need the following:

• Whole wheat or all- purpose flour ( I use both)
• Sugar
• salt
• yeast ( 1 packet will make 1 large pizza)
• olive oil
• 1 cup of very warm water ( 1 cup of water for one large pizza)
• Large bowl
• hand mixer or spoon and lots of energy :)

For one Large pizza

Step 1: put one cup of whole wheat flour in bowl, add 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 package of yeast ( 2 1/4 teaspoons,) 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 cup of very warm water.

Step 2: Use the hand mixer, and mix for about 3 minutes.

Step 3: stir in more flour a little at a time(if you use whole wheat flour, this would be the step where you would add all-purpose white flour). You just want enough to make the dough leave the sides of the bowl and to make the dough soft. You can either place your dough on a lightly floured surface to knead, or just leave it in the bowl and knead it. I always leave mine in the bowl, it’s less of a mess to clean up that way. You want to knead it about 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and springy.

Step 4: Cover the dough in the bowl and let it rise. You want to avoid letting air get in there. I usually just place mine in the oven. That way the kids can’t pull the towel off or poke their fingers in there :] Let it rise for about 30 minutes.

Step 5: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.Punch the dough and stretch it to fit your pizza pan. For parties, make tiny pizzas by making little balls of dough and rolling them out. Cook the dough about 11 minutes.

Step 6: Toppings!!! I like to use roasted garlic and basil spaghetti sauce for the sauce. Garlic is a must for us, along with mozzarella and plum tomatoes. After you add your toppings cook a little longer, about 5-10 minutes.

Experiment!! I usually start with recipes from cookbooks and then I tweak it until I like it. I suggest you do the same with anything you see here. Make it yours!

Let me know if you try it!