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Cooking Corner: Pizza from Scratch

Instead of ordering or buying a frozen one this weekend, try cooking up your own pizza from scratch. The great thing about making the pizza yourself is that it is completely customizable with options for crust thickness, toppings and cheeses. Maybe you want to stick with original pepperoni. Or try mushrooms and peppers. Whatever you think of can probably be put on a pizza. And do not forget the rest of the ingredients:

1.5 cups warm water
1 package yeast
3.5 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of sugar or honey
1 teaspoon of salt
1 table spoon olive or vegetable oil
Jar of pizza (or pasta) sauce
Cheese
Toppings

This recipe will give two medium size pizzas. Begin by preparing the dough to rise: dissolve the yeast in warm water in a large mixing bowl. Add flour, sugar or honey, salt and oil to the water and mix until it forms a dough. Spend about 10 minutes kneading the dough until it is smooth. If it’s a little too wet to handle well, add a little more flour. Form the dough into a ball and let it sit covered for at least an hour.

Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Farenheit. Divide your dough in half if you are using the full recipe and work with one half at a time on a floured surface. Roll out the dough to about half an inch thick. If you do not have a pizza pan available, get creative and stretch out the dough in a brownie pan or cookie sheet.

Whatever your intended shape and container, finish up by spreading on the tomato sauce, cheese and desired toppings. It should take about 10 minutes to bake. You may need to add a little more time to ensure the cheese is melted and delicious.



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