Do-It-Yourself: Homemade Pizza Sauce

I can answer this one, Betsy! My family has had a weekend pizza tradition for the past few months, and this is the recipe I’ve been using. Everyone loves it, including the kids. (And really, I don’t mind giving them pizza–my two-year-old loves this crust with simple tomato paste as the sauce, tomatoes as the topping, and then some cheese. Yum!)

3.5 cups flour (I started using 2 cups all-purpose and 1.5 cups whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp active dry yeast
1.25 cups lukewarm water
.25-.5 cups EVOO

1. Combine flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add the yast, water, and 2 Tbs of the oil. Leave for 15 minutes to dissolve the yeast.

2. With your ands, stir until the dough just holds together. Transfer to a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Avoid adding too much flour while kneading.

3. Brush the inside of a clean bowl with 1 Tbs of the oil. Place the dough in the bowl and roll around to coat with the oil. Cover with a plastic bag and leave to rise in a warm place until more than doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

4. Divide the dough into 2 balls. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

5. Roll each ball into a 10-inch circle. Flip the circles over and onto your palm. Set each circle on the work surface and rotate, stretching the dough as you turn, until it is about 12 inches in diameter.

6. Brush 2 pizza pans with oil. Place the dough circles in the pans and neaten the edges. Brush with oil.

7. Cover with toppings and bake until golden, 10-12 minutes.

Taken from Baking: Easy-to-Make Great Home Bakes, ed. by Carole Clements

I have made one like Crystal’s for about 25 years. I wonder how many hundreds of homemade pizzas my 5 kiddos ate while they were growing up! If are looking for a crust that has that pizza from out texture that I have never been able to get with a crust recipe I have made, Sam’s has cases of 20 frozen pizza dough balls for about $15 and they are REALLY good. After my family tasted those my pizza crust making days were all over. One ball makes two 12 inch pizzas for about 75 cents. The main work with those is to remember to get the crust out of the freezer in the morning so it can thaw and rise. My full blooded Sicilian SIL says mine is the best pizza he has ever eaten and he is from NY! It’s those Sam’s crusts!

Here is an overly long, super-intimidating recipe that ends up tasting just like a $25 gourmet pizza crust. http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm

But I’ve condensed it into a much easier version! This is a make-ahead recipe so it takes a little planning, but I have successfully multiplied it and split it up into quart ziplocs for freezing before the first rise stage.

2 cups bread flour
1 cup water
1 packet yeast
Olive oil spray

Combine water, yeast, and a half cup of the flour into a stand mixer bowl and mix on low speed with a dough hook for 7 minutes. Let sit for 20 minutes. Start mixing again on low speed and gradually add the rest of the flour. Let it run for 20 minutes unattended. Grease a round airtight container that is twice the size of the dough ball. Let the dough rise in the fridge for 24-36 hours. Then stretch out the dough on a floured surface, transfer to a pizza pan, add toppings, and bake at 500 for 8-10 minutes.

It’s a little extra effort but I promise it’s worth it!