Stretching My Food $$ - Pizza

Pizza is one of those things most people love to eat.  Right now it costs a small fortune to buy a pizza at a restaurant of have it delivered.  Even take and bake or frozen pizzas at the grocery stores have gone up in price quite a bit.  To make it at home is super inexpensive and much, much healthier too.

 

My recipe is super simple and doesn't really take very long to make.  You don’t even need to wait for it to rise.  Once it is mixed up, you let it rest for a short time and it is ready to go.  You can mix it up in a bread machine, a stand mixer or completely by hand.

My pizza dough recipe: 

Pizza Dough 

2 cups flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 1/2 tsp. yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. oil

1 cup hot water

Place ingredients in bread machine pan and start on dough cycle.  Add additional water or flour if needed until dough comes together in a nice smooth ball.  Turn off machine and allow dough to rest 10 minutes.  You can use all white flour if you prefer. 

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

This dough can be divided and frozen if you only need to make one pizza or you want to do some meal prepping.   You might want some sauce on this delicious dough.

Easy Quick Pizza Sauce 

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp. dried basil 

In a microwavable bowl combine ingredients and stir to thoroughly combine.  Cover bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute, stir, and repeat.  Spoon 1/4 cup of sauce onto your freshly made pizza crust.

 

Pesto sauce also makes a great pizza sauce as does barbecue, hot wing, even ranch dressing.  I’ve even brushed the crust with olive oil and sprinkled it with garlic powder and dried parsley in place of a sauce.  There are a lot of good options.

 

Sprinkle with your favorite grated cheese: 

Mozzarella

Monterey jack

Cheddar

Parmesan

Provolone

Swiss

Colby 

I personally prefer Monteray Jack cheese, but all of these are great.  Then all you need to do is add your favorite topping and bake in an oven at 450° for 12 to 15 minutes until it is done and the cheese is bubbly.

 

Toppings: 

Crumbled cooked ground sausage, beef, pork, turkey, etc.

Diced cooked ham or chicken

Leftover taco meat

Bacon bits, pepperoni slices, sliced ham or sausage, chorizo, etc.

Peppers

Onions, scallions, chives

Mushrooms

Tomatoes

Pineapple (I know, it’s a controversial subject)

Sliced olives

Zucchini, thinly sliced

 

The list goes on and on and the sky is the limit.  Some of my favorite pizza recipes come from the Pampered Chef website.  I love those creative pizzas I used to make back in the day when I was a consultant and their pizza stones are pretty awesome.