Whats your best pizza recipe?

ok, when i say recipe, i mean everything. You can't make a pie without making the dough yourself.

How do you make your dough, how do you prepare, how do you cook, what toppings, etc?

Personally, i'm a whole wheat with spinach(or fresh basil) and good quality mozzarella, good olive oil and sea salt person.

They are all "the best" at any given moment.
If I'm taking the time to make a crust from scratch, it's
because I have some great ingredients that are worthy of
that sort of effort.

But one that's always satisfying- some days we score really
good local organic tomatos at the farmer's market. When we come
across those, we usually grab some fresh basil and some of the
great fresh mozz there, and do a simple pizza.

I use the standard "unbleached white" flour from the bulk-food aisle
at the WholeFoods™, and throw some garlic powder, fine-ground thyme,
and (sometimes) grated aged parmesan into the crust mix.

Once the crust is baked, I spray it with a layer of EVOO, then
a layer of the fresh basil leaves, a layer of tomato slices topped
with fresh mozz slices, and then spray more EVOO and sprinkle it
with kosher salt before it goes under the broiler for 2 1/2 minutes.

If I get the slice thickness just right, the mozz will be nicely browned
and bubbling just as the exposed basil is well-wilted, but the tomatos
are still garden-fresh and the basil underneath them is crisp and bold.

That's good eatin' right there!

IMO that is a great pizza and I would love it if you invited me over for dinner sometime :)

I'll need 2 or 3 weeks advance notice, so I can clear a path
through all my "stuff" to a spot where you can sit down and eat.

Actally, let's make that FOUR weeks...so I can create a suitable spot
to clear that path to!

Slice fresh garden tomatoes on top

Sprinkle mozzarella

bake

add garden fresh basil

serve

Is there any other kind? (/Col. Jessup)

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/jgraz/8

my skills in a kitchen are limited.

...making one big pie from the double-size box, adding some parmesan, garlic and Italian seasoning to the crust. Then a little more garlic over the sauce, topped with mozzarella and a six-cheese Italian blend. My pizza stone makes for a crispier crust than does my pan.

It's my favorite meal, bar none.

That is all I am saying. Oh and pepper. Lot's a pepper. Oh and roasted vegetables.

My second fav is tomato sauce, ham, mozza and artichoke hearts.

Makes one pizza. Double ingredients if you need to make 2. This recipe is very versatile. You can add a teaspoon or two of your favorite herbs, wrap the dough around split mozzarella cheese sticks to make a stuffed crust, use more garlic, less garlic, sun-dried tomato bits, a teaspoon or two of good basil pesto--the possibilities are endless. :)

Dough ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup very warm water (somewhere around 100 degrees is best)
2 tbsp. active yeast (not instant!)
2 tbsp. clover honey
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. Parmesan cheese (optional)

pizza sauce (either store-bought, or homemade)
whatever toppings you want (I like pepperoni, mushrooms, and sweet Italian sausage slices)
Good shredded *fresh* mozzarella. Buy a block and shred it yourself. Mmmmm....

Preparing dough:

1. Pour very warm water into a large bowl. Add the honey and salt, and use a mixer set on low to blend and dissolve honey and salt. Add yeast, and blend again with mixer for about 20 seconds. Let it sit for 5 minutes, to activate the yeast.

2. Add 1/2 cup flour and the olive oil, and mix until well-blended. Add the rest of the flour and the minced garlic, and mix well by hand until a dough ball forms. You want the dough to be firm, but not sticky or too dry.

3. Once you have a nice firm dough ball, turn it out onto a flour surface for kneading. Knead well for about 1 minute.

4. Lightly coat the inside of another large bowl with olive oil, then transfer the dough to that bowl. Cover it lightly with a clean dishtowel or a couple of sheets of plastic wrap, set in a nice warm place, and let it rise for about 45 minutes, or until roughly doubled in size. Punch down, and let it rise again for about an hour. Punch down again and transfer to a lightly floured surface for rolling out.

5. Lightly oil your pizza baking pan. Form the dough into a flat ball about 6-8 inches wide. Using your hands, press it from the center outward to stretch it out. Once the dough is about 1/2 inch thick, use a rolling pin the flatten it to 1/4 inch thick. Shape and/or cut the dough to fit your pan. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. (optional)

6. Puncture the dough all over with a fork. Puncture it well--this keeps it from bubbling up while baking! Rub on a small amount of olive oil around crust edges before adding sauce, toppings, and cheese. Bake at 400 degrees F until crust looks golden brown--this usually takes about 12-15 minutes.

Give address and phone no., place order--meat lover's if it's my choice, Sicilian if it's the Pagercub's choice--
Bake wait 30-45 minutes,
Pay the nice driver, remember to tip generously.
Dig in!