How to make Homemade Pizza

This mouth-watering homemade pizza recipe is handed down from my grandmother. My grandma Liz made the best pizza in the world. Whose grandmother didn't?

When I was a kid and knew she was making pizza I would make a dash for her house, which was easy because she only lived two blocks away.

Oh, the wonderful smell and the anticipation of waiting for it to come out of the oven. This is my recipe for homemade pizza; it's probably not as good as my grandmother's but close and besides it's homemade what more could you ask for?

Here is what you need to make the dough:

· 2 pkg. active dry yeast

· 2-1/4 cups of warm water, not too hot

· 1 tsp salt

· 3 tbsp of Crisco or oil

· 5 to 6 cups of all-purpose flour

This is how you make the dough:

1. In a measuring cup, add the yeast to the warm water and let it stand.
2. In a large bowl or your KitchenAid mixing bowl, add the flour, Crisco or oil, salt.
3. By now the yeast should have mostly dissolved in the water. So pour it into the bowl with the flour.
4. Mix by hand, or set your KitchenAid mixer on the low setting using the dough hook
5. Mix until the dough is smooth, and let the dough rise for one hour

This will yield about 3 pizzas 12” to 14” depending if you like thick crust or thin. I like thin crust.

Mixing the dough in my KitchenAid

Now we can make the sauce:

· 2 Can (28Oz.) of crushed tomatoes

· 2 or 3 tbsp of light olive oil or vegetable oil

· 1 glove of garlic Finley chopped (you can also add garlic powder)

· 1 Tsp. of oregano or Italian Seasoning

· 1 Tsp. salt - a little pepper

I like to cook my sauce first. Pour the tomatoes into a 1-quart pot, add all of the ingredients. Stir and bring to a boil, not a roaring boil, as soon as you see it start to bubble turn off the burner.

My pizza sauce on the stove

Preheat your oven the 450 degrees, spread the dough in your pizza pan, add your sauce, and sprinkle some Italian seasoning and Romano cheese. I bake two pizzas at a time for about 20 minutes, one pizza on the middle rack and one on top. After 9 or 10 minutes switch the racks.

Now you'll notice that I don't have any other topping on my pizza because this is the way my grandmother made it and I like it this way. 

The greatest thing about pizza is that there are so many toppings. Here are some that I do like to add sometimes:

Pepperoni, Mushrooms, Italian Pork Sausage, Anchovies (not my favorite), Green Peppers, Hot Peppers, Mozzarella Cheese. To add your toppings shorten your bake time by about 2 minutes, take them out and add your favorite topping, and put them back in the oven for 2 minutes.

As always Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed my recipe.

KitchenAid KSM3311XAQ Artisan Mini Series Tilt-Head Stand Mixer, 3.5 quart, Aqua Sky BlueBaking Sheet Set, 3-Piece Cookie Sheet Set with Silicone Handles, Steel Baking Pans Set, Durable Baking Sheets for Oven, BPA Free Cookie Sheets for Baking Nonstick Set, Sheet Pan - Black Baking Pan