Saturday, June 21, 2008

Best Homemade Pizza Ever!

Well, I stumbled upon a recipe based on something Mom used to make: homemade pizza using frozen bread dough.

I know, I know - this means not everything is made from "scratch," but believe me, this is so easy and so inexpensive compared to delivery that you'll want to make it at least twice a week. That is at least how often we make this recipe now.

The result: a Sicilian style (meaning rectangular), thin crust pizza that takes all of 10 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to bake. It does mean thawing out the bread dough at least two hours ahead of time so there is a little bit of planning involved. And you can make this vegetarian if you'd like or load it up with meat or even some bizarre combinations.

INGREDIENTS

Dough

1lb loaf frozen bread dough

2 tbsp olive oil

Sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

1 28oz can tomato puree

1 12oz can tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp oregano

Toppings

1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese

Various toppings (pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, ham, etc.)


PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees.

2. Using a 17" x 11" commercial baking sheet (jelly roll pan), spread oilve oil evenly over surface of pan. Place frozen bread dough in middle of pan.

3. Turn oven off. Place pan in oven and leave for 2 - 4 hours until thawed and dough has risen.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

5. Pat dough out using hands and turn at least twice to coat with oil. Dough should be able to stretch out to entire edges of pan.

6. Bake dough for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

7. Meanwhile, place onion and small amount of olive oil in medium saucepan and cook for 2 minutes on medium high. Add salt, pepper and oregano. Add tomato puree and paste. Cook over medium-low heat for 8 minutes.

8. Remove dough from oven. Using a spatula, place approximately 1 1/2 cups sauce over surface of dough. Store remaining sauce in refrigerator for another pizza but use within 1 week.

9. Sprinkle cheese over sauce. Add various toppings.

10. Bake at 400 for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven, slice and serve!