My friend Christie gave me this recipe for pizza.  It really is the best recipe we have ever used.  It is not healthy in any way but my kids all love it.  It uses high gluten flour which I can only find at the Bosche Store or King Arthur flour online.  But for only a small difference in taste you can use regular flour and add in gluten and dough enhancer.  You have to make the dough at least one day in advance but two days is better.  That sounds like a pain but it is worth it and it makes pizza night easy.  You will need a pizza stone and a metal mesh pizza pan.  I found my pizza pan at a restaurant supply place.  It looks like a big mesh circle.


Dough
1/2 c warm water
1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp sugar
3/4 c cool water
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp olive oil
3 to 3 1/2 c high gluten flour OR 3 c flour, 3 Tbsp gluten and 3 Tbsp dough enhancer

1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water.  Wait 5 minutes.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients.  I usually do it all in my food processor but you can do it by hand.  The dough will be pretty firm but not unyielding like a rock.
2. Oil or spray dough ball and it in a ziplock bag and refrigerate for 2 or more days.  You can let it just rise for 2 hours but it will not taste as good.

Sauce
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp red pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp dried basil or 5 tsp fresh
1 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp fennel.
Mix everything together in a pot and bring to a simmer.  Let it simmer for at least 5 minutes.  This makes enough for 6 pizzas in my house.  I will usually freeze it in 3 different containers so I can just pull out sauce as needed.

Cooking the Pizza
Put the pizza stone on the bottom shelf of the oven and put the other shelf at the very top of the oven to get it out of the way or just take it out.  Heat the oven to 550 degrees or the hottest it will go.  Let it heat up for 20 minutes before assembling the pizzas.

Let the dough warm up to room temperature.  I usually turn the oven on and take the dough out at the same time.  After 20 minutes, start rolling and stretching out the dough.
Lay the stretched dough on your screen.  Stretch to make it fit if necessary.  Don't push it into the screen or it will stick in the holes while cooking. 

Spread the sauce on the pizza.  Sprinkle cheese on.  I like using Costco's pizza cheese blend or you can combine your own using mozarella, monterey jack, parmesan etc.  Put toppings on.  Sprinkle with red pepper and/or oregano if you like.

Place pizza pan on the stone and bake for 3-4 minutes.  Poke any air bubbles and rotate the pizza.  Bake for another 3-4 minutes.  Check for doneness.  Total cooking time should be 7-10 minutes.

We have pizza once a week.  That means that I have to add variety or I would go crazy although my kids could handle pepperoni pizza every day without complaint.

Breakfast Pizza
Pizza dough for 1 crust (I usually make the dough 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 regular flour)
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 c ricotta cheese
salt and pepper
2 c mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 green onions chopped
1/2 c spinach leaves optional
4 eggs

1. Roll the dough out into a pizza crust  and put into pizza pan.  Make sure the crust has a lip to it. Bake crust at 450 degrees till starting to lightly brown, about 8 minutes.
2. Spread ricotta cheese all over the crust.  Sprinkle with bacon, salt and pepper, cheese, green onions and spinach leaves.  Carefully crack the four eggs in the center of the pizza.  I like to crack the yolks just a little bit.
3. Cook for 10 more minutes or until eggs are firm.
4. Serve with salsa or hot sauce if desired.

This recipe is from Taylor's first Primary teacher Heidi Iordachescu and is easy and addictive to make.  The fruit tricks you into thinking its a healthy dessert but it is perfect for a hot summer day.


Crust:
1/2 c butter
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/4 c flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix butter, peanut butter and sugar till light and fluffy.  Beat in the rest of the ingredients.  Spread dough out by hand onto a greased pizza sheet till it is about 1/4 inch thick.  Crimp the edges with your fingers.  Cook at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.  Cool completely.

Filling:
1 8oz package cream cheese

1/2 c powdered sugar
1 1/2 c cool whip


Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar together till smooth and creamy.  Stir in the cool whip.  Spread over the top of the pizza.

Top with your favorite sliced fruit in whatever pattern you think looks good.  Strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, grapes, peaches, kiwi etc.  If you like melt a cup of milk chocolate chips, stir in a spoonful of nutella if you want and drizzle it over the top of the pizza.

Chill and serve.

We have pizza and movie night every Friday night.  We have been doing that tradition for 6 years now and needless to say the basic pepperoni pizza looses its appeal after awhile.  Although my kids swear they could have Little Casers every week and be just fine with it.  So over the year we have experimented to find our favorite pizzas.  We have had breakfast pizza, BBQ pizza, pizza rolls, Mexican pizza and any other combination we could think of.  I grew up with whole wheat pizza dough but my family remains unconverted.  This is the basic pizza that we all like, white flour and all.  This dough uses bread flour which is DIFFERENT than regular flour.  It gives the dough a chewier texture.  You can make the dough with a mixer or by hand but it is easiest with a food processor (something I never would have thought but it is true).  You can make the dough the night before, refrigerate it covered in plastic wrap and then let rise at room temperature 30 minutes before you need it.


4 c bread flour plus extra for the counter
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 3/4 c water, warm
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil

1. Pulse flour, yeast and salt in a food processor till combined.  Add the oil, oregano and basil.  Pulse till combined.  With the processor running pour the water in until a rough ball forms, 30-40 seconds.  Let the dough rest for 2 minutes and then process for 30 seconds longer.
2. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand until it forms a smooth round ball, about 5 minutes.  Transfer the ball to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
3. Spray pizza pan with oil.  Sprinkle pan with 1 Tbsp cornmeal.  Roll out dough into 2 18 inch pizzas.  Prick all over with a fork.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.  Cover with sauce and toppings.  Bake for 10-15 more minutes at 400 degrees until crust is golden.

1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp oil
1 8 oz can tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 1/2 c beef broth (or 1 1/2 tsp beef bouillon and 1 1/2 c water)
1. Cook onion in oil over medium heat, till soft, about 5 minutes. (If in a hurry you can skip this step and use dried onion pieces)
2. Add the rest of ingredients and stir till warm and thoroughly combined.

This is an easy, relatively healthy pizza for our weekly pizza and movie night. I like topping mine with chipotle sauce for a little kick but my kids prefer ranch dressing drizzled on top.

2 thin crust pizzas (can make your own, use Bobli, or my favorite is Walmart bakery makes thin crust pizzas)
1 can black beans
1 can corn with peppers
4 c Monterey Jack cheese

Sprinkle 1/2 the cheese on the crusts. Drain beans and corn and sprinkle on crusts. Top with cheese. Cook at 425 for 8-10 minutes. Top with drizzled ranch or hot sauce.