homemade artisan pizza

Every day is a good day for pizza.

 
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INGREDIENTS

  • Fleischmann’s Pizza Dough Yeast (1 square packet)

  • About 2 cups of all-purpose flour

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

  • 2/3 cup very warm water

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

  • 14oz pizza sauce (I couldn’t find pizza sauce and substituted basil/garlic pasta sauce and it worked fine!)

  • Toppings of your choice

    • For the pizza pictured above, I used goat cheese, mushrooms, fresh basil, oregano, and mozzarella. You can be as traditional or wild as you want here. It’s all about what you like.

  • Shredded mozzarella or Italian-blend cheese for the top

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

I chose to use a large pizza stone that was passed down from my parents, but using a baking sheet is perfectly fine! A pizza stone holds heat more evenly across the whole surface, but this study shows that a baking sheet provides nearly identical results.

Grease the surface of the baking sheet and set aside.

Follow the instructions for making pizza dough found on the back of the Fleischmann’s Pizza Dough Yeast. For ease, I’ve put them below.

Combine 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the warm water and oil. Mix together until well-blended.

Add additional flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough forms a soft ball. Slightly sticky is okay.

Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 4 minutes until it becomes elastic. Spread the dough into a large circle on the greased baking sheet. Here’s where you decide if you want thin crust or thick crust.

Pour the pizza sauce onto the dough and spread it out almost to the edges — I like to make the most of the dough and leave very little crust. If you’re into crust, you can leave more room around the edges!

Here’s where I flip the script. The logical next step would be the shredded mozzarella, but I’m going to suggest you sprinkle the sauce with a little bit of salt and pepper, some oregano, any additional spices that you would like to include, and then top with your preferred toppings.

Finally, cover all of the toppings with the shredded mozzarella.

The mozzarella on top approach creates a cheese barrier that keeps the flavors in. I think of it as forming an envelope (with the sides being the crust and the melted mozzarella) that allows the flavors of the toppings, herbs, and spices to blend together with the sauce to create a richer taste.

***The only time I would recommend a cheese-first approach would be if you had any uncooked (or under-cooked) meat you were adding to the pizza to then be cooked while the pizza bakes. In that case, I would suggest putting it on top of the cheese to ensure that it gets direct exposure to the heat because, after all, I’m a scientist that’s very much into food safety.***

Okay — now you’re ready to bake. Put the pizza in the oven for 12-15 minutes. If that time has passed, but you would like your pizza a bit more golden on top, you can set your oven to broil at check at about 30 second intervals. Broiling is tricky and things can go from fine to completely burned in a matter of seconds, so keep a very close eye on it.

Take it out of the oven. Take a photo. Tag @herflourgarden on social media. Share with the folks you love most.