Homemade Pizza

I love Pizza! It is childhood revisited! I remember when I was vegan, over 30 years ago, none of the vegan cheese alternatives were available. We use to make pizza with a bechamel sauce. It was good in its own right, but not the pizza I grew up with. I use to say that if I died, I feared I would ask for a triple cheese to go! I missed pizza.  Today I say live life to its fullest, and enjoy everything in moderation, homemade, of course!

*Crust:

1 ½ tsp. Dry baking yeast ( I use the granulated yeast and store mine in a glass jar in the refrigerator)

1 cup warm water

1 tbsp honey, maple syrup or agave

Let this sit until it shows some life, by rising.

Add 1 1/2tsp sea salt

2 1/2 - 3 cups flour (whole wheat, unbleached or any combination)

Mix the above together; knead until it is soft, about 10 minutes.  Let it rise in an oiled bowl covered with a damp towel until double (about one hour).

Up until this winter, I would knead by hand, but I bought myself a Kitchen Aid. It does a great job kneading while I proceed to cut up the veggies.

It is a time saver.

In the past, I sautéed onions and peppers, and added raw sliced mushrooms to my pizza. This time, I saved more time by slicing the onions, green peppers and mushrooms finely.

Any way you want to do it, it comes out yummy! And obviously, you can add other goodies like artichokes, olives etc....

Preheat oven to 500. I have a convection oven so it cooks more evenly.

After the dough has risen, about an hour, I stretch it out onto a pizza pan. I have a 14-inch, but sometimes I use the 16-inch. Thicker or thin, it's your choice.

Be sure to oil the pan. I like to let the dough sit about 10 minutes in the pan to relax a little, and then I top with sauce. You can use spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce. I like a thin layer of it, but again, it's your pizza! Add grated mozzarella next. The amount is up to you and you can even vary the cheeses. Top pizza with thinly sliced veggies and bake in the hot oven for about 10 minutes.

*Doubling the crust is just as easy, and you can freeze half. Before you are out for the day, take it out in the morning and let it defrost and rise. When you get home, you are ready you make a pizza. If you have time bake, you can even preheat your oven for your arrival!