Homemade Pizza Dough and Sauce Recipes

“Necessity is the mother of invention” has never been more true than when you live outside the zone of pizza delivery. When we moved from southern California, where having a pizza delivered was as certain as the sun setting in the west, to rural New Hampshire where pizza delivery is outside the realm of possibility, I quickly realized that if we ever wanted to eat a hot pizza, I was going to have to learn to make it myself. And not just learn to make ho-hum, mediocre pizza, but learn to make really good pizza. So, here are my recipes for Homemade Pizza Dough and Homemade Pizza Sauce that have filled all our pizzeria longings!

HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH

2 t. honey

1 pkg. (or 2 1/4 t.) yeast

3/4 c. warm water (not hot)

2 c. extra fine “00” flour (Anna Napolentana or similiar brand), or all-purpose flour

1/2 t. salt

stone ground cornmeal

In a 1 c. measuring cup, combine warm water, yeast, and honey. Stir to dissolve yeast. Let stand 5-10 minutes, or until bubbly. (I generally wait until it’s almost ready to overflow the measuring cup. Then I know it’s ready.)

In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Stir in yeast mixture until a soft dough forms (will be a bit dry and loose). Knead in the bowl a bit to pull it together. And then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

Grease a bowl with olive oil. Place dough in bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Meanwhile, place a rimless cookie sheet on the bottom rack of oven, and then preheat oven to 500 degrees. You want this cookie sheet to get really hot, so the crust will cook quickly.

When dough has risen, gently press down. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a 12” round, or pull and shape with your hands. Place on a cookie sheet coated with stone ground cornmeal. This will enable your dough to transfer easily to your hot cookie sheet. Carefully slide/pull dough onto hot cookie sheet in oven, and prebake crust for 5 minutes.

Remove from oven. (At this point, you could freeze the dough for later use.) Top pizza crust with sauce and desired toppings. Move an oven rack to the next to the bottom setting in the oven, and cook pizza at 500 degrees for 9 minutes.

Makes one, 12-inch pizza.

HOMEMADE PIZZA SAUCE

This sauce has a real, authentic, pizzeria taste to it. The key ingredients are the wine, basil, and balsamic vinegar.

olive oil

1/2 c. very finely chopped onion

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 c. white wine

1/4 c. water

1/4 c. tomato paste

2 t. dried oregano

1/4 t. freshly ground pepper

1 - 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes, undrained

2 T. chopped fresh basil

1 t. balsamic vinegar

Heat 1 T. olive oil in a large stockpot. Add onion to pan and cook 2-3 mins., or until softened. Add garlic to pan and cook 30 seconds. Add wine and water to pan and cook 30 seconds more. Add tomato paste, oregano, pepper, and canned tomatoes to pan. Heat until bubbly. Then reduce heat, and simmer for 20 mins., or until thick. Remove from heat and stir in basil and balsamic vinegar.

Makes enough for two, 12” pizzas. You will need about 3/4 c. sauce for a 12” pizza. I typically double this recipe, and then freeze it in 3/4 c. portions. It freezes beautifully.