I think that Friday night is the perfect pizza night!  (well, actually I could likely eat pizza every day of the week, but Friday’s just seem a bit more right for pizza 🙂 )

If you have the time making your own pizza dough is pretty easy.  Plus there are two obvious benefits:

• You know all the ingredients that are going into your pizza
• It is so much cheaper than having one delivered

Now, I have mentioned before that pizza is my one true vice, and because of this we have experimented with pizza alternatives (Cauliflower Pizza), but I thought that today I would go back to basics and share an easy pizza dough recipe.

If you look on-line or in your cookbook collection, I am sure you can find a million different pizza dough recipes. They are likely all great, and simple to follow.  The one that I am going to share with you today comes courtesy of Guy Fieri.

As it happens (so) frequently I purchased his cookbook and it just sat on the shelf.  So, one afternoon I took it down and made a commitment to find a recipe to try.  Trust me, there are a lot of great looking dishes in this book and the pictures are kind of cool too (they have a tattoo kind of feel to them).  When I got to the chapter on Pizza and Pasta, I promised myself that I would try out the pizza dough recipe.  I wasn’t disappointed.  It was really easy, and it tasted great.  When making your own pizza is so easy and fun, it makes me wonder why we ever ordered take out?

I think that Grandma was smiling down on me as I made this recipe, because I have never had yeast react so quickly and the dough rose so much it was almost spilling out of the bowl!

While the dough was rising, it gave us an opportunity to cut up our pizza toppings.  It was great, we made a deluxe pizza at home, with toppings that we love for a fraction of the price.  Plus, we had leftovers for the next day, and who doesn’t love a cold slice of pizza for breakfast? 🙂

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Adapted from:
Guy Fieri – Food: Cookin’ It, Livin’ It, Lovin’ It

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup warm water (115°F)
• 2 packages of active dry yeast
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• Your choice of pizza sauce & toppings

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the sugar in the warm water.  Sprinkle the yeast on top and let stand for 10 minutes or until foamy.  Add the olive oil and salt to the yeast mixture, then, using the dough hook, mix in the flour until the dough starts to come together.  Add more flour as needed and allow the machine to knead the dough till smooth.
2. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until it is smooth, 2 – 3 minutes.  Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat the surface.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until the dough is doubled in size (about 1 hour).
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a tight, smooth ball.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for 30 – 45 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 500°F.
5. Turn dough onto pizza pan, covered with cornmeal (this will prevent it from sticking to the pan).  Press the dough with your fingers to push out to sides of pizza pan.  Once pizza is desired size and shape, top with your favourite sauce and fresh toppings.
6. Place in preheated oven and bake for 10 – 15 minutes, depending on the thickness and the amount of toppings, until the crust is firm, crisp and golden at the edges and the cheese is melted.
7. Enjoy your homemade pizza!