I am a firm believer that homemade pizza is the best pizza.  There’s just something so satisfying about making your own dough, loading it with toppings and then enjoying the fruits of your labor.  Plus, you can customize it the way you want, and you don’t have to ask a restaurant for any modifications.

While the pear and gorgonzola pizza at Cucina Enoteca is pretty fantastic, the homemade dough I use on my pizzas just can’t be beat.  This dough is super easy to make and requires minimal ingredients.  Plus, you can make extra batches of the dough and freeze for when the pizza mood strikes.

Homemade Pizza Dough (makes 1 pizza)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 tsp sugar or honey

2 tbsp olive oil

2-2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

Dash of oregano or other Italian seasoning

Directions:

In a large bowl mix the yeast with the sugar or honey in 1/3 cup lukewarm water for 10 minutes, or until it begins to foam.  Add in an additional 1/3 cup lukewarm water, your olive oil, flour and salt and blend mixture well.  Add in any seasonings and continue to blending until it forms a dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface (or in your stand mixer), adding in additional flour as needed so the dough doesn’t stick.  Knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is elastic.

Place the dough in a greased bowl or pan and coat it with a little bit of olive oil.  Cover your dough and let rise for 1 hour.  Punch your dough down, and form into pizzas!

The process to make dough is a bit more time intensive, but it is so worth it. This particular pizza had goat cheese, tomatoes, meatballs and kale.

Buon Appetito!