Pizza!

Pizza is a big thing at our house...mostly because we don't make it that often....The Man has diet restrictions and for the most part we try to follow them....

Now, I was gonna make this on Friday, but on Thursday morning our living room clock went on the fritz and the Man spent a day and a half putting up with it before it drove him crazy....(actually, I'm impressed he made it that long)....so Friday, we all went to town to Wal-mart to purchase a new clock....then there were hunger pangs...and we ended up eating dinner at El Acapulco....mmm

So, yesterday...with the help of a couple of squirrel butts, I made pizza for dinner.....

First lets make our crust....you will need warm water, sugar, yeast, flour and salt....this recipe will make enough crust for a 16 inch thin crust pizza...and can easily be doubled...

 First...preheat your oven to 500 degrees....

pour your warm water into a bowl...ad 1/4 teaspoon of sugar....

add one packet of yeast...and stir....

let sit for 8 minutes....

while your yeast is setting up...in a separate bowl combine 1 3/4 cups of flour with 1/2 teaspoon of salt....

after 8 minutes, your yeast mixture should look like this, then add the flour/salt and stir till it forms a ball

ok, so it's not really a "ball"...but work with me here...

turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 2 or 3 minutes....

then....

allow a squirrel butt to roll out the dough so that you can take a photo.....

spray your pan with cooking spray....here I am using a 12 inch pizza pan (that has apparently seen better days...lol)....and I promised the boys the leftovers to make their own mini pizzas...

put your dough in the pan, trim any excess, and then drizzle with oil (and spread it around) or....cheat like me and spray lightly with cooking spray....

Next, we are going to make our own pizza sauce.....you will need....

tomato sauce (because of the Man, we use the no salt added kind, but regular is fine), Italian seasoning, basil, and garlic powder....

1 1/2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of basil, and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of garlic powder (depending on your own personal taste...)

stir that all together and feel free to adjust to taste....

add sauce to your pizza crust....

give some leftover dough to a squirrel butt...and let him go to town with it...but be prepared....your kitchen will be a disaster when it's over...

thinly slice some mozzarella...don't worry, you can use the shredded stuff if you want....I won't call the cheese police on you...I promise....lol

now, the carnivores insisted on Canadian bacon and pepperoni...so I sliced up the Canadian bacon to make the pieces smaller...

add mozzarella and Canadian bacon to pizza....then add pepperoni...

bake at 500 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes

While pizza is baking, give other child dough and let him have at it....note that he is even messier than the other child...squirrel butts are like that...

and here are their individual pizzas pre-baking....C's is on the right...T's on the left...I didn't get a finished shot, because well, they scarfed them....

they used marble jack cheese....they even shredded it themselves....it makes a momma proud....

remove pizza from oven....transfer to a flat cutting surface...and enjoy....

Pizza Crust

Ingredients

3/4 cup of warm water
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
1 package of yeast (I use rapid rise)
1 3/4 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt

 Preheat oven to 500 degrees
mix together water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit for 8 minutes.  In another bowl combine 1 3/4 cups of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. After yeast has set up, add flour mixture to the bowl with the yeast. Stir until it forms a ball. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead for 2 or 3 minutes. Roll dough out. Spray pan with cooking spray, place dough in pan and drizzle with oil (or spray again with cooking spray)....add your toppings and bake on top rack of oven for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on toppings...


Home Made Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

1 8oz can of tomato sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon of basil
1/2 to 1 teaspoon of garlic powder (depending on taste)

mix all ingredients together in a bowl....apply to pizza crust...


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 Now, if you are like me, sometimes you want something other than a meat pizza...I was going to make a teriyaki chicken pizza with pineapple and caramelized onion.....but I was informed that the Man doesn't like chicken pizza of any kind (well, ppbbtttttt to him)....so I changed it up a little...

Cut a red onion in half and slice into thin slices (now, here I only did half an onion because I am not a huge onion eater)

I removed the center of the onion...this gives you nice half circles (if you don't like or are allergic to onions, feel free to use whatever you want...instead)

not too thick, not too thin....pretty pretty onions...

melt some butter in a pan (I used about a tablespoon for half an onion)

add onions and saute until almost done...

then add some brown sugar....this is 1/4 cup, but for a whole onion you can add up to 1/2 cup....let melt and boil for a minute till your onions are nicely coated and caramelized...

mmm....this smelled so delicious and I'm not a big onion fan...but these were oh so good....

thinly slice some mozzarella....

yeah, I know...it's the same picture as before...but really you wanted me to take 2 different mozzarella shots...I mean, it's not like there was much difference the second time...

add mozzarella to your crust.....(you know, the one you made earlier with the crust recipe...yeah, that one)

chop up some pineapple....I used slices here...I'm sure the tidbits would be great...feel free to drink the pineapple juice...I always do...

(now, if you wanted to make teriyaki chicken pizza...like I did...sigh....then you could chop a chicken breast into bite size pieces and cook it with some teriyaki sauce and a bit of pineapple juice...but, alas...it is not to be here....)

I almost put ham on it....buttttt....I had some prosciutto that I bought to use in another recipe and I decided to use some of it...(pretend I took a picture...I didn't...by this time I had been in the kitchen for an hour and a half....doing a myriad of things as well as cooking...I even cut myself with a knife)....

personally, I could have used more of the pineapple and onion....but, since I was making this for the Man and I...I decided not to go overboard....I think this would be good with mushrooms too....mmm...mushrooms...

sorry, got sidetracked....I happen to love sauteed mushrooms....as long as they've been washed before cooking....

anyway....Cook pizza in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes....at 500 degrees....

place on flat surface to cut into slices and enjoy....I know I did....

look at that delicious thin and crispy crust...mmmm....

Prosciutto, Pineapple, and Caramelized Onion Pizza

 Ingredients
 1 pizza crust (see recipe above)
 Mozzarella thinly sliced
Caramelized onions
1/2 to 1 red onion sliced into thin slices
1 to 2 tablespoons butter
1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar

Slice red onions into thin slices, saute in saucepan with melted butter until almost done. Add brown sugar, letting it boil and caramelize on the onions for a minute or so. Remove from heat and place on pizza...

Pineapple (use as much as you like)
Prosciutto (I used about 3 slices)

(oven should already be preheating to 500 degrees)
Place mozzarella on pizza crust, top with caramelized onions, pineapple, and prosciutto. Bake on top rack of oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from pan to flat surface, slice and enjoy....


Later I'm making Aunt Trish's Poppy Seed Chicken....by request of the Squirrel butts....