Recipes for Health: Homemade Pizza

Sure, you can buy ready-made pizza dough, but often it contains quite a bit of fat and sometimes it’s hydrogenated. This dough is an easy, no-hassle alternative. It takes about five minutes to put together in the food processor, and it’s easy to stretch or roll out. The dough recipe makes enough for two 14-inch pizzas (or three very thin 10- to 12-inch pizzas). You can roll all of it out and freeze what you don’t use, so long as it’s wrapped airtight.

What goes on the pizza? Start with a good tomato sauce and some mozzarella, then you can decide what else to add.

For the dough:

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 3/4 to 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (may substitute 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for 1/2 cup of the white flour)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt

For each pizza:

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh tomato sauce or a good prepared marinara sauce
3 to 4 ounces thinly sliced mozzarella cheese (packaged slices are usually about 1 ounce each, which makes it easy)

Optional:

Thinly sliced tomatoes (2 or 3, preferably Romas)
Sliced red onion, rinsed with cold water and patted dry
Sliced red or green bell pepper
Sliced mushrooms
Pitted olives

1. Mix together the yeast, sugar, water and olive oil in a small bowl or measuring cup until the yeast is completely dissolved. Let stand for a few minutes. Place 2 3/4 cups flour and the salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse once or twice. With with the machine running, pour in the yeast mixture. Process until the dough forms a ball on the blades. Remove from the processor, and knead on a lightly floured surface for a couple of minutes, adding flour as necessary for a smooth dough.

2. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl, rounded side down first, then rounded side up. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and leave it in a warm spot to rise for one hour. The dough will have nearly doubled in bulk and will stretch as it is gently pulled.

3. Divide the dough into two equal balls. Roll each ball around on your work surface under the palm of your hand until the ball feels smooth and firm, about one minute. If the dough is sticky, brush the work surface with a little bit of olive oil. Put the dough on a lightly oiled baking sheet, cover with pan-sprayed plastic wrap or a damp towel, and leave to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Place a pizza stone, if you have one, on the middle rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a 12- to 14-inch pizza pan, and dust with semolina or fine cornmeal. Roll or press out the dough to fit the pizza pan, and line it. With your fingers, form a slightly thicker raised rim around edge of the circle. Brush everything but the rim with one teaspoon olive oil.

5. Use a rubber spatula to spread the tomato sauce over the pizza in an even layer. Top with thin slices of mozzarella. Arrange any of the additional toppings on top. Drizzle the pizza with a tablespoon of olive oil.

6. Place the pizza pan on the stone in the hot oven. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the crust is brown and the cheese bubbling and lightly browned in spots. Remove from the heat, cut into wedges (I use kitchen scissors for this) and serve.

Yield: One 12- to 14-inch pizza

Advance preparation: You can keep the dough in the refrigerator, before rolling out, for a couple of days. Knead for a couple of minutes, and proceed with step three. The dough freezes well, for six weeks. Roll out, line pans, double-wrap with plastic and freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature, then top and bake as directed.