Homemade Pizza with Pizzaz...Its so easy!!

Inspired by the ongoing event at ‘MBP (current month) 2007′

So lets Roll..some Pizza, for which you really don't need a rolling pin!!

When is a pizza not a pizza? When its a focaccia( pizza bread), or a calzone (stuffed pizza) , or any one of the delicious members of the extended family . But we will start here by making basic pizza crust which can be later altered to make calzone or cheese sticks. There are also different variations on the style of making pizza. The big daddy of the whole clan is Chicago-style pizza, which is multi-layered and deep dish.

Making pizza from scratch is very easy and fun. The dough can be made by hand , or by food processor, or heavy duty mixer to mix it up.


Dough
1 envelope active dry yeast ( 1/4 oz. )
1 cup warm water (100-110F water temp)
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon olive oil (EVOO) plus extra for brushing.
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoon white cornmeal
A rolling pin dusted with flour

Topping can be of your choice. I had mushrooms, onions, broccoli, green bell peppers, and tomato. For cheese I used Italian six cheese blend plus extra Parmesan to sprinkle on top.

Sprinkle yeast over water in a measuring cup. Add sugar to it. Let it stand for 5 minutes until slightly creamy. Stir until yeast dissolves.

In a large bowl combine flour, salt. Add the yeast water and oil slowly and stir until it forms a soft dough. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface. Dust your hand with flour and knead until dough is smooth and springs back when pinched, about 10 minutes, adding little bit more flour as necessary to prevent it from sticking.

Oil the surface of another bowl and and also the top surface of the dough.Place the dough into that bowl and cover with damp cheesecloth. Let it stand for 45 minutes at room temp. It will get doubled in volume.

Preheat the oven to 400 F .Lightly oil a round pizza pan and sprinkle with white cornmeal.

After 45 min, divide the dough into two equal parts and roll out with a floured rolling pin on a floured surface. Gently stretch and flatten out the dough to a 12 inch circle. Cover and let rise it for the second time for 20 minutes. Pierce dough at intervals with a fork. This will make sure that all the carbon released by yeast doesn't gets trapped in the dough.

Just before putting it in the oven , brush it liberally with EVOO and bake for 6 min or until it gets light brown in color. Take it out and let it cool. At this point you can either freeze(for upto 2 months) it or can use it immediately with your favourite store bought pizza sauce and toppings.