Our Favourite Homemade Pizza {Two Ways}

Today Miss G and I made one of our favourite weekend dinners… Homemade pizza.  Though I do find it takes a little advanced planning to make pizza from scratch, making the dough just after breakfast and letting it sit on the counter all day until we’re ready to make dinner in the evening is easy enough for us.  Plus, this recipe makes two BIG thin-crust pizzas, which allows for a few (or at least a couple) of good meals {even when your husband scarfs down 12 pieces in one sitting… hi babe! ☺}

Here are the ingredients for our go to dough, adapted from the lovely Pioneer Woman’s recipe…  Wholewheat flour, dry active yeast, table salt, olive oil, and warm water.

First, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and set it aside.

Next, add the flour…

And the salt to the bowl of your electric mixer. (This could be done by hand too, of course.)

Put the paddle attachment on your machine…

And give the dry ingredients a quick mix.

Next, measure out the olive oil…

And slowly pour it into the bowl while mixing.

Next, give the yeast and water a quick stir…

And with the mixer on, slowly add the yeast water to the flour/salt/oil mixture.  Mix on low until the dough starts to come together in a sticky mass.

Prepare a separate large mixing bowl by drizzling it with olive oil.

Use your hands to pull the edges of the dough downwards and shape it into a ball.  Place your dough in the bowl and gently toss it to coat it in olive oil.

Now cover your bowl tightly with plastic wrap.  It can be put in the fridge and stored for 3 or 4 days, or it can be used later on in the day. If we’re making pizza the same night, we just leave ours on the counter. 

Now, for my favourite… A very simple roasted veggie pizza.  Chop up a bunch of vegetables of your choice (these are my favourites), drizzle them with a little bit of olive oil, and put them in a 400 oven for about 10 minutes.

While they roast, grate some cheese (we use fresh mozzarella or, like tonight, an all-natural extra sharp cheddar) and slice some fresh mushrooms.

Take your veggies out of the oven when they’re slightly soft and just beginning to turn golden in some spots.

With your toppings ready, it’s time to retrieve the dough you made earlier in the day.  By now, it should be well over double its original size and soft and spongy to the touch.

Prepare a baking pan by lining it with parchment paper and sprinkling on little cornmeal (this is completely optional, but it does add a nice texture).

Using 1/2 of the dough, press it down into a thin rectangular shape.  Don’t worry too much about holes – just patch them up as you go along.

For this pizza, we often use a fresh pesto sauce, which is really yummy.  Equally delicious, however, is just a drizzle of olive oil and a tiny sprinkle of sea salt.

Next, arrange the veggies on the dough {stuffing as many of the red peppers into your mouth as possible, if you’re like Gracen}.

Top with cheese (adding some feta into the mix is really good too!} and pop it into the oven.

Remove when the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown and let cool for a few minutes.

Now onto the one Brad prefers… A BBQ chicken pizza. Tonight we used roasted chicken breasts cut into small chunks, raw diced orange pepper and sweet onion, and some white kernel corn (adding jalapeños is really tasty too).

Prepare your pan and dough the same way as before, then spread a thin layer of BBQ sauce onto the  uncooked crust (this is one of Miss G’s favourite jobs).

Add the toppings…

Cover with cheese…

And bake ’til golden.