Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Papa John's and all those other pizza restaurants ain't got nothing on my mother's homemade pizza. I'm usually very picky about eating the crust on pizza, but when it comes to my mother's pizza crust, I don't leave a single crumb on my plate.
Homemade Pizza (Crust & Sauce)
Once you've had a taste of this pizza, you'll never spend a single dollar on takeout or delivery ever again. It's really easy to prepare, especially if you have a KitchenAid, and the result is very rewarding. And also, one of the advantages of homemade pizza is that the toppings can be as minimal or numerous as you want, and the sauce can be as mild or as spicy as you like. Forget all those frozen pizzas that contain high amounts of fat and sodium to prolong their shelf life...real homemade pizza is the way to go. Healthier, tastier, cheaper....it's absolute BLISS.
Ingredients:
For the dough:
7 cups of all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons of corn oil
2tbsps. of dry yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
For the sauce:
1 onion
1 (6oz)can of tomato paste
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
4 tablespoons oil
Yields: 2 round pies and 1 rectangular pie. (I use 16 inch pans)
Toppings of your choice: I chose mozzarella cheese, green peppers, mushrooms, and green olives.
Directions:
Pour the flour, oil, and salt into the kitchen aid stand mixer bowl. Then put 2 tablespoons of yeast in a cup of warm water and add 1 teaspoon of suger to the water so the yeast will rise quickly. When the yeast rises, add it to the mixture in the bowl. Put the mixer on medium speed, and allow it to knead the dough. Keep adding warm water until a soft dough forms. Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise for an hour or until it doubles in bulk.
Meanwhile, prepare the pizza sauce. Peel the onion and grate it in a saucepan. Add oil and spices, and sauté for about 10 minutes or until onion becomes tender. Then, add the tomato paste. Add 4½ tomato paste cans of water to the saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil, and then cook for 10 minutes on low heat.
Lightly flour a rolling pin, and the surface on which you are opening the dough. Use the rolling pin to stretch the dough out to desired shape.
* Bake pizza at 350 degrees; usually cooks in about 20 minutes.
