Homemade Pizza

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Here's a way to make a healthy homemade pizza for your family.  Feel free to personalize it to your tastes.  This amount makes either one large (14-16") thicker crust or two very thin crusts.  Since I'm trying to watch my calories I normally split it into two crusts and roll it very thin.  This makes our ingredients go further too! :)

Crust:

• 1 (1/4 oz) pkg active dry yeast
• 1 c warm water
• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 c flour (can substitute whole wheat flour)
• additional flour for kneading
• small amount cornmeal

In a medium mixing bowl combine yeast and warm water.  Let sit until yeast foams, about 5 minutes.  Stir in oil & salt.  Add flour, 1/2 c at a time, mixing with a large spoon, until dough comes away from the side of the bowl and holds together.  Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto a large cutting board or pastry board.  Turn the dough out of the bowl and knead about 5 minutes, until it's smooth and springy, only adding enough flour to keep it from sticking to the board.  Form dough into a ball and place in a medium bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place.  Let rise until about doubled in size, about 2 hours or so.

To make the pizza, preheat the oven to 475 degrees.  Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and flatten with your hand.  Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough outward from the center.  Form dough into a circle or rectangle (whichever shape your baking stone or pizza pan is).

Sprinkle baking stone, pizza pan, or baking sheet with a small amount of cornmeal.  Lay the crust on the stone or sheet.  Top as desired.  The BBQ chicken pizza shown in this picture was made with about 1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce, some mozzarella cheese, grilled chicken, and red onions.  You could also use pizza sauce and any other toppings you like such as pepperoni, sausage, ham, peppers, etc.

Once the pizza is topped, let it rest about 10 minutes for a crispier crust.  Bake pizza for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melting & browning a bit.  If desired, sprinkle with sliced fresh basil.  (If adding fresh basil don't add until after the pizza comes out of the oven so the basil doesn't burn.)