Make this pizza recipe any night with a few pantry staples and any toppings you want

Did you know people have been making variations of pizza for over 7,000 years? It’s a popular, delicious, and timeless dish. That’s all to say: We humans love our pizza, and we’re always on the hunt for a good slice.

In theory, homemade pizza sounds like a great idea. You save money, can control your ingredients and toppings, and it’s even fun to knead and shape the dough. In practice, however, I’ve had my fair share of failures. More often than not, though, my “adventure” would end in a kitchen covered in flour and sticky dough and a teary phone call to a friend in New York asking if it would be a ludicrous idea for her to send me bottled water from the Hudson.

Her answer? “Yes, Julie, that’s an absurd idea.”

The lengths we go for pizza, am I right?

When quarantine gave me more time on my hands than usual, I set out on a quest to make a good homemade dough that would result in happiness, not tears. I found this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction, one of my favorite food blogs. I like this recipe because it’s relatively quick and easy, and when I make this in my stand mixer, it’s mess-free and stress-free and doesn’t leave my hands aching.

The end result is pizza perfection. The crust is thick but crispy, and topped with an ungodly amount of cheese. Just the way I like it.

How to make Homemade Pizza

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine water, sugar and yeast to activate the yeast. Slowly mix in flour, olive oil and salt while using the dough hook. Knead the dough by hand on a floured surface until it forms a tight ball.

Place the dough ball in an oiled mixing bowl and let rise, undisturbed.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. If using a pizza stone, add that to the oven while it preheats. Divide the dough in two and shape into rounds by stretching hand-over-hand or by using a rolling pin. If you’re not using a pizza stone, situate the rounds on baking sheets. Top with sauce in the center and spread it outward in a spiral motion. Top with cheese and any additional toppings and bake until crust crisps.

Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Make this pizza recipe any night with a few pantry staples and any toppings you want."