Who doesn't love pizza...

Aren't toddlers FUN? I mean, who DOESN'T love being tied to a list of 4 meals that the children will eat at any given moment in time. Hello? What rational human being can't sustain themselves on chicken nuggets, pizza, mac and cheese, and PBJ's?

I really wish my kids would eat something other than their "pre approved" list of edible delights. I really did try to expand their horizons. Aside from safety concerns, I never kept any foods from them. My son was breastfed, and I heard from some that the natural changes in flavor of the milk were supposed to support a healthy set of taste buds. Both kids started out loving most foods, but even my easy going guy has become picky as of late.

So, that brings me to pizza. My kids DEVOUR this stuff. My son actually asks for it the moment he wakes up in the morning. So, herein lies my issue.

My kids love pizza...and frozen pizza...wellllll...just doesn't meet my standards for the kiddies. Plus, they're ridiculously expensive. We started buying stacks of tombstone mini pizzas, but our local grocer stopped carrying them. So, I tried a similar looking variety, but figured out the cheese was fake and stopped there. This leaves us with Red Barron, which is good, but not HOMEMADE good.

So...I was talking to the ball and chain one night, and he insisted that he didn't like homemade pizza. If that isn't a challenge, I don't know what is.

Step One: Crust

Knowing next to nothing about baking these - I went ahead and turned to my internet cooking bible and found Jay's Signature Pizza Crust

The thing you have to note about yeast is that it is ALIVE. That's why expiration and the right water temp are important. I have found that taking hot water out of the tap into a room temperature measuring cup, and then pouring that water into a bowl, makes everything about perfect. The thing I hate about bread is that you never know if your loaf is rising until it's too late - not true with this crust. You let the yeast sit in the water with the brown sugar for about 10 minutes. You can actually see the bubbles from the yeast rising.

This makes a nice, bready, fresh crust enjoyed by all! If you are feeling adventurous, you can brush the non-sauced edge of the crust with garlic butter, or toss in some sort of herb.

Step Two: the sauce.


This is where things get fun, because the sky's the limit here.

I typically make a tomato-based sauce for the family. Start with some onion (minced) and some garlic (you can leave out the garlic if you don't like it, but come on, who doesn't like garlic?) Fry it in some olive oil until it’s all blended, translucent, and flavorful. Add the tomato sauce (just a can of the plain old stuff). Plus some paste. I like to add some Oregano, maybe some basil, and a touch of salt. Really, YOU add what YOU like as a family. Think sphagetti sauce, but a little thicker. Whatever flavor makes you want MORE.

What I really love to do is make EXTRA sauce (like I did tonight) and freeze it so it's faster the next time I want to make pizza. I went ahead and whipped up two cans of sauce, leaving me enough for 7 lightly sauced pizzas.

Not a fan of the red sauce? Got someone else in your family besides a toddler petrified of anything green? Orangette's amazing pesto is another great idea. I have not tried this myself, but top the pizza with a little goat cheese and I'm sure it's amazing

You can also try alfredo if you like white pizza. Maybe some chicken breast, or spinach...

Really, I could go on and on.

Step Three: Toppings

Repeat after me: I will not be afraid of trying something new.

Take a gander in your pantry and your fridge. What do you have that looks YUM? Veggies that need to be used? Leftovers that need to be recycled? There is not a combination that isn't (at least) edible on a pizza. Tonight, we made it standard. Just mozzarella on one side, mushrooms, olives, peppers, and fresh tomatoes on the other. When you top, make sure cheese is always the last thing you add.

While on the topic of cheese, while mozzarella is the most commonly used there are many others that are divine! Jack cheese with some different spices could make a Mexican pizza. Goat cheese with maybe some pine nuts and spinach? Really, the possibilities are ENDLESS.

Step four: Bake



I make this pizza by placing the dough on a pizza stone, and baking for between 15-20 minutes as the pizza recpie instructs. I like the evenness that a stone brings, but I don't do anything fancy like make the pizza on something wooden, artfully sliding it onto the hot stone. I make the pizza right on the stone, putting the whole thing in the oven to cook. I make sure to spread a good one-third cup of cornmeal over the stone to prevent sticking (you're not supposed to use flour for a stone) BEFORE spreading the dough around on the stone.

Step five: Eat

Really? You need instructions for this? :)