Pizza Margherita

Mmmm... pizza. I have to say, pizza is one of the most wonderful foods to ever be created. I'm pretty sure I ate it every night for most of college. And I'm pretty sure I wasn't particularly unique in that respect. So, last night, I made it! It turned out really well. The sauce was wonderful, but I'm going to keep experimenting with the homemade crust recipe. I like really thin crusts, and no matter how much I rolled this out, I couldn't get it thin enough without the dough tearing. Probably I should eliminate the yeast all together, and I needed something to make it easier to roll. I'm definitely going to keep trying! The sauce, though, was perfect!

Pizza Margherita

INGREDIENTS:

Dough:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 cup warm water

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp oregano

Sauce:

2 6-ounce cans tomato paste

1 1/2 cups warm water

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp onion salt

Pinch of paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp oregano

Pinch of ground pepper

8 basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Topping:

12 ounces of mozzarella, shredded or sliced

8 basil leaves, torn into small pieces

DIRECTIONS:

For dough:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Combine water, yeast, and sugar in mixing bowl, and wait until yeast is frothy.

3. Mix flour, salt, olive oil, and spices into yeast mixture (mix salt into the second cup of flour to combine).

4. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

5. Roll dough out into a large pizza peel, or onto two medium-size baking sheets.

6. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes, and set aside.

For sauce:

7. In a medium bowl, combine tomato paste, water, parmesan, sugar, and spices. Mix basil leaves into sauce.

To finish:

8. Spread sauce on pre-baked crust. Top with mozzarella and basil leaves, and bake for 8-10 minutes at 375, or until cheese is browned.

Serves eight.