Pizza is so easy to make at home and better then anything you can buy in a frozen food section at the grocery store. You can also make pizza for about 1/3 of the price then if you buy them from the store or even from your favorite take out pizza shop.

There is one caveat to all things making pizza at home. You need a pizza stone for the oven and you need a pizza peel. (wooden/or metal large spatula shaped thing) Everyone should have a pizza stone in the oven permanently anyway for even heat distribution. I leave mine on the lower rack all the time. It stays in there forever. You can make bread on it, cook other things on it doesn’t matter. I like the rectangular stones more then the circular ones, but by all means use what you want.

Before we get going too far along, I should probably clear something up right now. When I am talking about pizza, I am specifically talking about New York style pizza. Thin-ish crispy outside, lightly chewy and airy interior crust. That Chicago shit isn’t pizza. Yes I went there and said it! Its named the same thing and its usually round but thats where similarities end. Don’t get me wrong. Chicago style pizza has its place and I like some of it, but to me its not pizza. It’s like midwestern corn-fed healthy survive winter meat pie type food. Its not pizza. I have been all over Italy more then six times and nowhere in any part of that country is there a reasonable facsimile to “Chicago style” pizza. The Italians brought pizza over from Italy. When the GI’s returned from Italy in World War II they wanted the pizza they ate in Italy and pizza as we know it in this country took off based on pizza from Italy. What we call New York style pizza is the closest form of pizza from Italy today and its still not even the same.

There are two tricks you need to make a good New York style pizza at home. Dough and heat. Thats all you need and it doesn’t get much simpler.

Lets talk about the dough. Dough for pizza is easy to make and you need no special ingredients. A decent higher protein/gluten flour, salt, yeast, and water.

There are basically two kinds of flour available in the stores. All purpose and bread flour. Bread flours have a higher protein/gluten level up to 15 percent. All purpose flour is lower and usually only up to 11 percent protein/gluten. King Arthur All Purpose flour is almost 12% and thats what I use. No sense in buying all kinds of different flours. If you cant get King Arthur where you live then get the bread flour.

Dough

Ingredients:

2-1/4 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast

1 cup (8 oz) Warm Water

2-1/2 cups (11.5 oz) Flour

1 teaspoon of Salt

Pour the yeast into the warm water and let sit for 10 minutes until yeast starts to bloom.

Sift the flour and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer or normal bowl.

When the yeast has bloomed pour the water/yeast into the flour and mix together until just combined. A minute or two in mixer or with a spoon just until a wet shaggy dough forms. This dough will seem wet, do not worry. When its just combined let it sit for fifteen (15) minutes. This is called Autolyse. You’re hydrating the dough, getting the yeast spread throughout the flour. Its ok, just walk away and take a break. Leave it right in the bowl.

Now mix or knead the dough. In a stand mixer with a dough hook let it run on low for ten (10) minutes. Or pour the dough out on a lightly floured surface and hand knead the dough for ten minutes. You may add small amounts of four to tighten the dough up but not too much. Just keep kneading and the dough will come together just fine. Don’t give up. After kneading the dough you have two options.

Option 1: place dough in a lightly oiled ziplock bag and store in refrigerator for up to three (3) days. The dough will ferment in the fridge and develop a stronger deeper flavor.

Option 2: Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise on counter for an hour and half. (1-1/2 hr)

If you put the dough in fridge for a day or so, take out about an hour before you’re ready to use and allow to come to room temperature.

Heat

Pre-heat your oven and pizza baking stone an hour before making pizza. Set your oven as high as it will go. 450-500 degrees. Don’t be scared. Make that sucker like a blast furnace. Its winter time, who cares? Release hell in that oven. Heat the stone up for an hour.

Assembly

Take your dough and on a lightly floured surface punch down and knead for a minute or so. Cut dough in half. There will be enough for two (2) nine inch pies. Take first half on lightly floured surface and roll dough out. At first it will seem to spring back and not want to roll out. Keep going and be patient. It will stretch out. Roll it out to about the size of your pizza peel and or pizza stone. Once its rolled and stretched out, transfer the dough to a well floured peel. Don’t be scared to rub some serious flour on the peel but don’t get crazy. Just lay the dough on the floured peel. When you shake the peel back and forth the dough should gently slide back and forth with little resistance.

Now here is where you make the pizza your own:

Sauce the pizza. You can buy jars of pizza sauce or make your own. I have done both. Its up to you.

Cheese the pizza. Fresh slices of Mozzarella, shredded, whole milk, low fat milk, your choice. You want the whole milk cheese though. It melts better and doesn’t taste like rubber. How much cheese you put on the pie is up to you. I find less is more. Do what you like.

Toppings. Add the toppings you like. Again less is more. This time I had a green Bell pepper and some red onion to get rid of so guess what I used? Pepperoni, sausage, its up to you.

Cook

Now carefully take your assembled pizza and transfer the pie to the pre-heated pizza stone. Gently shake the peel back and forth and the pie will want to run off the end of the peel. Place it on the stone and close oven.

Now if you are running the oven at 450 or above, don’t go far. The pizza will be done in six (6) minutes or less. Start checking it about the four minute mark. You want the cheese to melt get a little brown but not burn. It will go fast so pay attention.

When done, carefully pick up the side of the crust and slide peel under the pizza and pull out of oven on pizza peel.

You just made your own pizza. If you followed this recipe and instructions it should look closely to these examples.

See? Its so easy to do and make. You will also be amazed at how good they taste. Oh yea, there is also about $2 worth of ingredients here.

