Made from scratch-no rolling pin required-PIZZA

I've been making a special marinara sauce for months now, without fail, at least once each week. It's that good. Every time I eat it I think about how fabulous it would taste on homemade pizza. Last night, I finally followed through and the result was spectacular. 

First you'll want to prepare the sauce so it can simmer away for a good 30-45 minutes. This recipe will make enough for 2 pizzas:

1 28 oz can of crushed tomato
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 small onion (I use white) peeled and cut in half
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Put all of the ingredients in a small sauce pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for at least 30 minutes. 

Done. Fuh-get-about-it!

(Once it's finished, turn off the heat and allow the sauce to cool a bit)


Now, preheat your oven to 450.

It's time to make the pizza dough! (I originally found this recipe here) I made 2 pizzas but whipped up 2 batches of the dough recipe. It's easier to handle that way and no dividing is necessary.

1 package of quick rise dry yeast

1 cup of lukewarm water

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of honey

2 1/2 cups of flour (I use unbleached)

1 teaspoon of garlic salt or powder

1/4 teaspoon of onion powder

1/4 teaspoon of oregeno

Mix the yeast with the water and set aside to work its magic for 2 minutes. In a large mixing bowl combine all of the remaining ingredients above (minus the flour). Pour the water into the mixture and give it a stir. Combine the flour and use your hands to form a dough. It should look like this:

Pour a small amount of olive oil over the dough then cover it with a damp paper towel. Be sure no air can get to the dough. Set it aside for at least 15 minutes (last night I set it aside for almost an hour).

When you're ready, take the dough and spread it out onto a large cookie sheet (no rolling necessary) like this:

At this point, your sauce should be cooked and somewhat cooled. Ladle the sauce onto the dough and spread it out. This step depends on how saucy you like your pizza. For me, I had a good 1/4-1/2 cup of sauce left over (after saucing 2 pizzas).

Now comes the fun part. The toppings. Sprinkle 2 cups of mozzarella (or whatever blend of cheeses you prefer) over the sauced dough. Add your toppings. This is what I used:

My 3 year old was getting excited:

Put your pizza(s) in the oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes. The timing will vary according to your oven and whether or not you use a pizza stone. The result of baking your pizza like I did will result in a delicious Sicilian style.

Nothing compares to making your own pizza. Not only will you save a ton of money, but you know what ingredients went into the process. 

Buon appetito!