Pizza

Tonight we shall have pizza.  Mostly because the Italian Bread I was making takes 6+ hours and so won't be ready to go with dinner.  So I changed my mind about dinner and we are having pizza.  I make two large pizzas with thin crust.  I make it all from scratch.  Doesn't take that much longer.  I will show you...
The Crust  Pizza Dough Recipe
2+cups of flour
a handful of Parmesan
about a tsp of salt
a sprinkle of dried Basil
2-3 tsps of yeast
1 1/2 cups of warm water
Mix all the dry ingredients with a fork, then slowly add the water while stirring.  You may not need all the water.  Then dump the dough on the counter sprinkled with a little flour and knead a few minutes, this is not hard, nor does it take long, just a few minutes.  Fold the dough, press with the heel of your hand, turn the dough a quarter turn, repeat.  Place in a bowl with a little olive oil in the bottom, use the dough to spread it all around the sides of the bowl, then turn the dough over.  Cover with a towel, and set somewhere near the stove (not too near, you don't want the towel to catch fire), but somewhere a little warm to rise.
Parenthetical Note without Parentheses
In an effort to take pictures for this blog, I forgot to add the yeast until I started to knead the dough.  Ugh.  No worries.  I hadn't used all the warm water so I put the yeast in the warm water, stirred.  Sprinkled some extra flour on the counter and on the dough, made a dent in the dough and poured the yeast and water in it, then kneaded it some more.  We will see if it works, if not... we will start over.

 While the dough is rising...
Cook the meat.  We are using hamburger, which was still frozen when I was ready to cook it, but that is okay, I cook it that way all the time.  Salt and pepper it.  You can use sausage, pepperoni, chicken, whatever.  Just get it ready while the dough is raising.
The Sauce
1 can of tomato sauce (I used home canned tomato sauce in a jar)
A handful of Parmesan
1 tsp of Oregano
1/4 tsp of Basil (I put a little more, I like Basil)
1tsp Minced Garlic
3/4 tsp Onion Powder
A sprinkle of crushed red pepper
2 tbsp of honey
Stir together and let sit while the meat cooks and the dough raises.  At this point you can make a salad if you like that kind of thing.  We just eat pizza and sometime Nacho Cheese Doritoes.
When the dough is about twice as big, or to use the cooking term "doubled," you are ready to "roll" out the crust.  I just use my hands to spread it and stretch it.  I divide the dough into two equal portions to make two pizzas.  Spread it to cover the entire pizza pan.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Spread half of the sauce on each pizza, add your meat and top with mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 15 to 20 more minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.  We like it a little browned.  If you want a softer crust, skip the baking the crust before you put sauce on it.