P is for Pizza

When I was still a kid living at home with my parents we had a dinner time ritual. It was called "The Guessing Game." It went like this. You thought of a noun and said "I'm thinking of something that starts whit the letter..." And everyone else tried to guess what it was. You could ask any question except "what is it made out of?" because that one usually made the game way too easy.

We always knew when something started with the letter "P" was either... you ready for this...


Although, sometimes it was penguin. But usually they were thinking of pizza. Now I'd like to share with you our family recipe that has been perfected over the last 10 years or so.

Pizza dough for one Large crust

2/3 c. warm water
1 tbl yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tbl olive oil
2 c. flour

combine 1st 5 ingredients and let set for a few minutes to activate the yeast. Then add in flour till just mixed. Dough will be sticky. Place in an oiled bowl & let rise. This is optional, but it makes rolling out easier.

* Trick Heat your oven to 200 and turn off and then place the bowl inside to expedite rising.

Putting the pizza together:

1. Preheat oven & pizza pan to 450
2. Roll dough to desired size.
3. Sprinkle corn meal on pizza pan
4. Crush/mince 1- 3 cloves of garlic and mix with 1-2 tbl of olive oil and rub over the crust. This is the most important step because it keeps the dough from absorbing excess sauce.
5. Add sauce/seasonings I use about 4 oz typically... about 3/8 cup.
6. 2 cups or more cheese.
7. Add Toppings. At our house, this consists of peperoni, but feel free to be more adventurous.
8. Bake at 450 for 12-18 minutes.... longer if the pizza is thicker.

Voila! Pizza perfection.