Winna, Winna, Pizza Dinna!

I'm not one to boost, but I'm pretty dang proud of myself for tonight's dinner, which as the title implies was pizza!! Roasted garlic, olive, and 1/2 bacon pizza to be exact (I prefer vegetarian pizza as opposed to my boyfriend). This was my 3rd attempt at making pizza. I say attempt because the first 2 tries didn't exactly turn out as expected (although the 2nd time was okay) but as the saying goes "the 3rd time is a charm". I wrote about my first 2 attempts, which you can find here. As the first 2 tries weren't that successful I thought I'd try a different pizza crust recipe to see if I could get different results, and sure enough I did.

I found this particular pizza crust recipe on KitchenTrials.com. I really liked it because it didn't require any rising time for the dough or kneading really, it was really simple to put together, and it didn't take long at all to cook, only 20 minutes! It also seemed a little on the "healthier" side as it called for Olive oil instead of Vegetable oil, which I also really liked.

The BEST Pizza Crust Evvverr

Prep Time: 15 mins

Bake Time: 20 mins

Whatcha Need:

- 2 1/4 t. Yeast or
1) .25 oz Pack

- 1 t. Sugar
- 1 C. Warm water
- 2½ C. Bread flour
(This is what the recipe originally called for, 
I just used plain ol' white flour and it worked just fine for me)
- 2 T. Olive oil
- 1 t. Salt
- 1/4 t.? Corn Meal
(You'll see) 

 Toppings:

* Whatever your heart desires! :) I topped mine with Mozzarella cheese, black olives, bacon, oh and the roasted garlic. I had never tried adding roasted garlic to my homemade pizzas in the past, I guess mainly because I never really thought about it, but we had a ton of garlic on hand and so I decided to roast a little in the oven with some Olive oil drizzled on top and added it to the pizza just for a little extra kick. Also sprinkled a little Italian seasoning on top before throwing it in the oven just for good measure.

Method:

-- Preheat oven to 450ºF with rack in the middle position

(If you're going to add roasted garlic to your pizza like I did do so before you start the dough if you want everything timed out just right ;))
-- In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast + sugar in the warm water. Let sit five minutes
-- Add  flour, salt + Olive oil, beat until combined and dough looks flaky
-- Quickly knead into a ball  + let sit for five minutes, get the rest of your toppings ready

-- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter, you'll want it about 1" larger than your pizza pan

-- Lightly dust the bottom of the pizza pan with cornmeal

(If you don't have cornmeal, be sure to grease the pizza pan to avoid sticking.
 This was the first time I had tried cornmeal instead of greasing the pan and 
I LOVED it! Soo much better tasting!!)
-- Place the dough onto the pan, pressing into the edge, then fold over the overhang to create the crust
-- Add toppings

-- Bake 15-20 mins, or until crust is golden brown + cheese is lightly brown +  bubbling

-- Cool for 5 mins before cutting
-- Enjoy!! :)

^^ An up close and personal shot of this bad boy.

This pizza crust recipe is definitely a good base for any type of pizza, I'm for sure going to be putting this sucker down in my recipe book (and ripping out the old one!). The only thing I would do differently next time I make pizza is to use a different sauce. On another note the pizza reheated perfectly and didn't get all soggy like some pizzas do when you try to reheat them :)

Until next friends...Cheers!! 

P.S. Of course a lovely salad always goes well as a side for pizza. Check out Nelli's Kale + Avocado Salad with Homemade Balsamic Reduction, for a super yummy recipe that would go great along with your dinner!

P.P.S. We are looking for some foodies out there who have some recipes they'd like to share with us for future food features and we'd love to hear from you!
See our Contact page for more info!! :)