Homemade Pizza

I made a pizza for lunch the other day since the hubs & I were both home - I've used many different options for making the crust before from a pre-made crust to a pizza kit and have never really  been satisfied. I do not like a a thick or chewy or bready crust. There's a pizza place close to where I work called Lillian's and let me tell ya, Ms. Lillian makes a good pizza crust. It's just right - not too thick and not paper thin. Although, you can fold it in half like a slice of New York style pizza! So, I decided to try out a recipe in my good ole' Betty Crocker recipe book and the verdict was pretty good! I think the next time I make it, I'll use about 3/4 of the dough and I think it will be perfect! It was pretty thin and not chewy - it got a little cripsy on the edges - super good! This was also the first time that I used a basic marinara sauce and freshly sliced mozzarella cheese. Now, THAT made all the difference! Oh my. Soo good. Publix had the fresh mozzarella on sale a week or so ago and I splurged and bought it :-)  Don't know if I'll be able to make pizza without it now!

Crust Recipe:

1 package of active dry yeast (roughly 2 1/4 teaspoons - I buy my yeast in bulk size so I don't have those cute little packages of it)

1 cup warm water

2 1/2 cups of flour

2 TBSP olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Dissolve the yeast in warm water in a medium bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Stir. Drizzle a little olive oil on top and let sit for a few minutes. I let mine sit on my warm oven as it was preheating for about 10 minutes and it handled beautifully. It was a nice soft, silky dough. I had to use a little bit of flour when I first started to handle it, but that was about it. Spread across the pie sheet. Spread some marinara sauce over it. Sprinkle oregano and pepper over sauce. Sprinkle pecorino/romano cheese over sauce. Spread some regular grated mozzarella cheese over the spices. Lay some pepperoni slices down. Slice some fresh mozzarella cheese and place the slices over top the pepperoni. Cook at 425 degrees until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted & bubbling. 

I also think that this would be good with some fontina cheese or feta cheese. Lillian's (the pizza place) makes a three cheese pizza that is TO die for and it has feta cheese on it - unbelievable taste. So good. Unfortunately, her prices are a little to much for me to splurge there too often. Let me know of any good recipes for crust that you may have!