Pizza, so not on my new years resolution, but so worth it !!

I have a bonus post today, two recipes.  You need both these recipes to make one great pizza !!  The first recipe is for the crust.  The crust is nice and thin, the way I like it.  The second is for the sauce. 



I am not that thrilled with the canned pizza sauce in the grocery stores so I tried this recipe and it was great.  I found both of these recipes at Annie's Eats.  I trust Annie.  She has not steered me wrong yet.  The girl knows what she's talking about. The crust recipe can be found here and the sauce can be found here.  I followed both recipes exactly, but I added 2 tablespoons sugar to the sauce.  I know, I know, but when we lived in Illinois I found this great pizza restaurant called Firehouse, it was the first time I had a little sweeter sauce.  One bite and I was hooked. Anyone know if they deliver to Oklahoma????



I made a traditional sausage and pepperoni pizza for the boys and a personal veggie pizza for me.  Taylor had a great time helping. He has become obsessed with the food processor just like me.  He used it to shred the cheese.







Ingredients:



½ cup warm water (about 110°)

1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp.) instant yeast



1 ¼ cups water, at room temperature



2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil



4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting



1 ½ tsp. salt

olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl





Directions:



Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.



Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.



To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.



Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use.



Source: adapted from Brown Eyed Baker, originally from Baking Illustrated by the Editors of Cook?s Illustrated Magazine





28 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained





3 tbsp. olive oil



1 tbsp. dried basil



1 tsp. dried oregano



½ tsp. dried marjoram



2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes



¼ tsp. salt



3-4 cloves of garlic, finely minced



Directions:



Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow to cook for at least 15 minutes. Once finished cooking, remove from the heat. If you prefer a smoother sauce, use a potato masher or immersion blender to break up the chunks of tomato. Alternatively, simply leave it as is if you prefer a chunkier sauce. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.