Homemade pizza

For the longest time, the Imaginative One would not even touch a piece of pizza. A few weeks ago, he decided he needed to see if his taste buds had changed. He discovered that he does like cheese pizza so that makes meal planning easier because I know he will eat it if I make it. In the past, he would eat something different if we had pizza.

The sauce:

Ingredients:

• a small can of tomato paste


• 1 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil (otherwise known as EVOO - Yes, I'm a Rachael Ray fan.)


• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water


• 1 Tbsp. of sugar


• salt to taste


• Italian Seasoning (or 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe's) again to taste


• garlic powder again to taste

Steps:

1. 
   
   Open up can of tomato paste and put it a small bowl.


2. 
   
   Put the EVOO, sugar, and seasonings into the bowl. Pour water into the bowl.


3. 
   
   Stir up the tomato paste, EVOO, seasonings, sugar, and water.

That's it. It's very easy to make. You can put more or less water in it depending on how thin you like your sauce to be. You put how much seasonings you would like in it depending on your taste buds.

Quick Pizza Crust:
(I got the recipe from Mommy's Kitchen. When I made this on Saturday, I wanted a simple pizza crust for our pizza. This recipe fit the bill. It was easy to make and was tasty. The only change I would make is adding some Italian seasoning to the crust so that it would have a little more flavor. Other then that, I wouldn't change a thing.)

• 
  
  1 - 1/4 oz packet of yeast (2 1/4 tsp. of yeast)


• 
  
  1 cup warm water


• 
  
  1 tsp sugar


• 
  
  1 tsp salt


• 
  
  2 Tbsp. oil (vegtable or olive) - I used EVOO.


• 
  
  2 1/2 cups all purpose flour


• 
  
  
  
  2 tablespoons cornmeal - optional for sprinkling on cookie sheet (We used a little more than that because the Wee One was having fun putting it on the cookie sheet.)
  
  

Steps:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water and add sugar. Let yeast sit about 10 minutes (you want it good and foamy).


2. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Beat vigorously 20 strokes. I removed the dough from the bowl and kneaded it until it was no longer sticky.


3. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning dough to coat all sides and then allow the dough to rest for at least five minutes.


4. Preheat oven to 425, spread dough onto a lightly greased baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal (optional).


5. Top with desired toppings and bake for 20 minutes This makes 1 - 14 inch pizza.

My hubby who works in the pizza business and has for the past twenty years said the pizza was pretty good. That is a compliment coming from him. Both of the boys liked it. We'll use this pizza crust recipe again.

This is what the 21 Seasoning Salute looks like.