Pizzaria Style Pizza (Simplified)

SIMPLIFIED VERSION...VERY GOOD


Dough
½ cup warm water
½ tsp yeast
1 ¼ tsp sugar
¾ cup cool water
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 ¼ tsp olive oil (or veggie or canola oil)
3-4 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in ½ cup warm water. Mix in sugar to dissolve. Add ¾ cup cool water. Add about 1 ½ cups flour. Mix in the salt and olive oil. Work in the rest of the flour to make a stiff dough. Knead in by hand the last ½ cup or so of flour. Dough should be very firm, it should relax but not lose shape.

Oil and cover dough and let it rise until double (2 hours or so).

Sauce (You can also just use a can of Hunts Spaghetti Sauce, or any other pizza sauce.)
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste

Slightly heat sauce as you make it. Add spices in small amounts and taste as you go along.

¼ - ¾ tsp salt
¼ - ½ tsp sugar
¼ - ½ tsp black pepper
1/16 – 1/8 tsp red pepper (cayenne)
1/16 – 1/8 tsp garlic powder
¼ - ½ tsp basil leaves (if using fresh, use 3x the dry amount)
1/8 - ¼ tsp oregano leaves (if using fresh, use 3x the dry amount)
1/16 – 1/8 tsp fennel (optional)

Cheese Blend
Use your favorite cheese(s).

Assemble the Pizza
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Shape dough into circle on lightly oiled cookie sheet, or round pizza sheet. Keep the outer edges a little thicker than the inside of the pizza.

Spread the sauce on the dough to about ½ inch from edge. Make sure it isn't too thick in the center.

Put any desired toppings on.

Place pizza in oven and bake for 3-4 minutes. If you get air bubbles, prick them with a fork and push toppings back into place. Rotate the pizza and check the bottom for browning. Bake for another 3-4 minutes and check the bottom for browning again. Depending on the thickness the total cooking time should be 7-12 minutes.