From Scratch Pizza

Yum. Homemade Pepperoni and Olive Pizza.

 Homemade Red Sauce. YUM, seriously I have a trick to make this so delicious!

 Sauce on homemade dough.

 Top it how you like. There is a reason for the Christmas plastic placemat, but you could probably use an Easter one too... ;o)

 Waiting to cut into is so important, but it sure is hard to wait!

An old friend introduced me to Ranch dressing on my pizza and now there is no turning back. At least, homemade makes it good for you! (Please ignore the chips in my dishes, I usually angle my camera away from them, but this time I was too much in a hurry to eat!)

Okay, I've been on hiatus for awhile so at least I'm bringing you three yummy recipes all at once. I've done pizza on this blog before, but it's been awhile and this time I have some new methods. Now this is a traditional yeasty recipe, but if you are looking for grain free crusts, you should try a cauliflower crust or an almond crust pizza, they are actually really good!
-Amanda

Pizza Crust

1 cup of warm water
2.5 tsp of yeast (or one packet)
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup olive oil
3 (ish) cups of flour (I used white-wheat)
2 tbsp gluten
1.5 tsp salt
cornmeal

Water should be warm, but you should be able to comfortably put your finger in it. If it is too hot for you finger it will kill the yeast. Sprinkle yeast in the water and add the honey. Whisk with a fork and set aside for 5-10 minutes. Get out either your food processor or your kitchenaid mixer (I've used both for this recipe) if you use the processor, the regular metal blade will work. If you use your mixer use the dough hook. You could also do this by hand, you'll just need to knead for a lot longer.

Pour the flour, gluten, olive oil and salt in your mixer. And stir to get it mixed in. (You can leave out the gluten, your crust just won't be as stretchy.) When the yeast has bubbled up quite a bit, pour it in the flour and mix for a good 10 minutes. If you are doing it by hand knead for 15-20 minutes. Your dough should be shiny and pulled away from the sides of the mixer. If it isn't pulling away and is really sticky within the first minute or two of mixing, slowly sprinkle more flour in until it does. Take the dough out, roll it in a ball, coat thinly with more olive oil and let it rest in a warm spot for at least an hour.

Meanwhile....

Red Sauce
(By the way, this sauce is easy to make in bulk and then freeze)

1 can of crushed/diced OR pureed tomatoes (I get the big can... I think it's 32 oz?)
1/2 stick of butter (the secret ingredient)
1.5 tbsp of dried basil
1 tbsp dried oregano
3-5 cloves garlic (depending on how garlicy you want it and how big your cloves are)
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes (more if you want a spicy sauce)
salt and pepper to taste

Basically, put all the ingredients in a pot (I grate the garlic in) and stir until the butter melts and incorporates in the sauce. Then let it bubble away on low on your stove for 30 minutes up to an hour. Depending on if you are using this for a pizza or a spaghetti sauce, is what kind of tomatoes you want to start with. Or, if you only have diced tomatoes like I did, then I used my stick immersion blender to puree it up. This sauce is SO good, and don't you dare skimp out on the butter.

Using high quality butter from grass fed cows (kerrygold is a great brand) is actually GOOD for you. Read this article on the Untold Story of Butter. Also, eating enough high quality animal fats helps with preventing sunburns!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

There are fancy homemade recipes, but I like my simple one. It does start with homemade mayo, which does take some practice.

1 cup of homemade mayo
1/4 -1/2 cup sour cream (do this to how sour you like the taste)
1/2 tsp grated garlic clove
2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp celery seed
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together and enjoy!

I love the quote, "If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, first you must create the universe." So keeping this in mind, I could have taken this pizza even further by making my own mozzarella and a few of the other prepared ingredients, like the pepperoni, but I'm satisfied with this "from scratch" version!