Have I told you guys yet that for Christmas my boyfriend’s parents got me all this fabulous pizza making equipment? A pizza stone, pizza peel, pizza pan, pizza wheel and server? Yeah, I was pretty excited, and now I have no excuse for not perfecting my homemade pizza. It’s definitely still not there yet, but I’m getting better and better with every pizza I make, and it’s been really fun coming up with combinations of pizza to try. So far we’ve stuck with pretty classic combinations, but I think as time goes on, we’ll become more and more creative! I have a bunch of pizza dough recipes I want to try, and I really like the one I’ve made before (this one), but I know it could be even better. I grew up in New Haven, CT which is known for it’s fabulous pizza (Modern is my personal favorite), and the whole state is filled with awesome pizza restaurants (Christos in Wallingford is excellent), so I have a lot to live up to. Homemade pizza will never replace take-out for me, but it’s still fun, delicious, and makes me feel a little less guilty about my pizza habit.
I’ve been intrigued by this no-knead pizza dough for a while. It sounds sooo easy, and after trying it, I concur… It is definitely easier than my other dough recipe, and it was a lot easier to handle as well. I really like the other pizza dough I’ve made, but it is a lot more temperamental and I get a lot more frustrated when I’ve worked with it than I did with this no-knead dough. I had no problem shaping it on the peal, only had a couple places where it tore, and it didn’t have any problem sticking to the peel. The flavor is great too, and I love that it makes enough for 2 pizzas, so I end up making a full batch, and then just freezing one for the following week. It works out perfectly, and I swear that the second dough from the freezer was even easier to handle and tasted better.
This tomato sauce recipe is extremely simple and tasty as well. You just add a few ingredients to a food processor, buzz it all together, and bam, done! This recipe also makes enough for 3-4 pizzas, so you could refriderate or freeze the rest for future pizza making.
No-Knead Pizza Dough
Makes 2 14-inch pizzas
Ingredients:
3 3/4 cups bread flour
2 1/2 tsp active or instant dry yeast
3/4 tsp table salt
3/4 tsp sugar
1 1/3 cups warm water
Directions
1. Stir together the bread flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Add the water and mix together with your hands, or a wooden spoon, until it all comes together. This’ll take a minute or two.
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and leave to rise at room temperature for 2 hours.
4. Divide dough into 2 portions. If you are only making one pizza, now is a good time to freeze one portion of the dough. Wrap in plastic wrap, put in a freezer bag, and place in the freezer.
Source: Shutterbean
Super Simple Tomato Sauce
Makes enough for 3-4 pizzas
Ingredients:
1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Add all ingredients to a food processor or blended, and blend until smooth. That’s it 🙂 The extra can be refridgerated or frozen for future use.
Source: Annie‘s Eats
To make the pizza:
1. Adjust one oven rack to the lowest setting, place pizza stone on it, and preheat oven to 500 degrees- and let stone sit in the preheated oven for an hour before assembling and cooking the pizza.
2. Shape the other dough on your pizza peal sprinkled with cornmeal or flour (if you have one), add desired toppings, and slide onto pizza stone. Bake for 14 minutes. Alternately, you could use a pizza pan (like the ones with the perforated hole), or you could roll out the dough onto a large (13×18 rimmed oiled baking sheet). If you use either the pizza pan or baking sheet, the pizzas will probably need to bake a bit longer- 18-20 minutes.
Here are some types of pizza we’ve made lately, if you want some ideas!
Pepperoni and Roasted Pepper
Clam, Bacon and Onion (recipe coming soon!!)
Caramelized onion and chicken
Pepperoni and Mushroom
Buffalo chicken pizza
Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Pizza
I'll Have Seconds! 
I used both of these recipes during the week when I made my pizza. It was a great pizza! You are right…the dough was the easiest pizza dough I ever worked with and I didn’t have any problem sliding it off the peel and onto the pizza stone. How ever, part way through baking the pizza I heard a loud pop in the oven and when I turned the oven light on to check it my pizza stone had cracked into 3 pieces. I heated it for an hour like you are supposed to and it was fine when I put the pizza on it so I don’t know what happened. I have had it for about 18 years or so…so maybe it just died
😦 Any way I do have another one so hopefully this one won’t break on me:) I made the pepperoni and roasted red pepper and it was a great combination! Thanks for the idea 🙂 Have I given you the recipe for the pizza dough with beer? Oh yeah, the sauce was the best pizza sauce I’ve ever made (and the easiest). Fresh and simple…I think this will become my regular pizza sauce from now on !
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipes! I agree- I love the freshness and simpleness of the tomato sauce and think it’ll become my go-to pizza sauce! I don’t have your pizza dough recipe with the beer, but I’d love to try it out 🙂
That really stinks about your pizza stone! My guess it that it just had reached the end of its lifespan. I’ve read about several reasons pizza stones can crack- one is if you put something too cold on the preheated pizza stone (just like how glass can explode when it experiences sudden changes in temperatures), also I’ve read that sometimes small cracks can form through use and then when moisture gets into the cracks and can cause breakage- I read that you shouldn’t wash your baking stone- only scrape stuff off because of this- or make sure it’s thoroughly dry before using.
Hopefully the next one will last you another 18 years!
Have not made a homemade pizza in a while! This sounds easier that the doughs I’ve made. The sauce looks simple and delicious! Will try this soon.
It’s definitely the easier dough I’ve ever tried- both to make, and to handle. The sauce recipe is really great, and tastes so fresh and isn’t heavy at all.
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