Pizza Night!

Oh that my children will not grow to think that all bread comes from a refrigerated tube!

Bread baking can be an intimidating endeavor, but pizza dough is a great place to start. It is very simple and forgiving. Our young little family hasn't nailed down too many traditions yet, but Pizza Night is definately now a part of the Millan brand.

So... in order to further the cause of Pizza Night, I will go ahead and post the step-by-step instructions. The basic pizza dough and sauce recipes come from my favorite cookbook in the world "America's Test Kitchen".

Basic Pizza Dough:
4 c bread flour (USE THE BREAD FLOUR!! IT REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE)
1 envelope Rapid Rise Yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil
1 3/4 cups warm water (just nuke it for about 1 min and 30 sec or so)

Start making this dough about an hour and a half or two hours before you want to start making pizzas. Whisk the flour, yeast, and salt together. Add the water and olive oil. Stir until the dough looks "shaggy". Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead it for about 5 minutes (I was always taught that the dough is ready when it feels like a baby's bottom). Put the ball of dough in a greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let it rise for the next hour and a half or two hours. It should double in size.

An hour and a half later.....

Preheat the oven to 425, and move the wire rack the the lower-middle position. Take the dough out of the bowl and divide it into 3 equal portions. Roll each portion out onto a 12 in pizza pan and bake for 6-7 minutes. Take it out of the oven and add toppings. Return it to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until desired oooeeyy gooey crispy goodness is achieved.

Basic Pizza Sauce:
1 big can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt (more or less-- whatever makes you happy)
2 tbs minced garlic (I have the humongo jar of minced garlic from Wal-Mart. It lasts forever and I am always using garlic)
2 tbs olive oil

Simmer the garlic in the olive oil on med-high heat for about one minute and add crushed tomatoes and salt. That's it!! This is a delicious sauce!

TO FREEZE: Let the pre-baked crust cool, then wrap it in plastic wrap and stick it in the freezer. When you are ready to pull it out again, just take it out of the freezer, unwrap it (I know that's a no-brainer but it would be irresponsible of me not to include this important step), add toppings, and bake at 425.

CUTENESS NOTE: Olivia thinks that everything I put into or pull out of the oven is "pete-si"