Pizza Night!

My kids love it when it's pizza night (and so do I)! I love it from Dominos, Papa Johns... but also from scratch. Here is my go-to pizza dough recipe, compliments of the Pioneer Woman! Her cookbook has slightly different cooking instructions than her blog, so here's the book version... which cooks faster so YOU'RE WELCOME!

Pizza Crust (makes 2 pizza crusts or 1 thick cookie sheet crust)
1 tsp. or 1/2 packet active dry yeast
4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil (plus more for drizzling)

Pour 1 1/2 cups warm water (not hot, but not luke warm) into a bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let sit.

Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on low speed, drizzle in the olive oil until just incorporated. Gently stir the yeast/water mixture, then drizzle it into the flour/oil mixture; mix until the dough forms a ball. (You can also mix by hand until the dough comes together.)

Drizzle a little olive oil into a clean bowl. Toss the ball of dough in the bowl and turn over to coat in oil. Cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel or plastic wrap and set in a warm place for 1-2 hours, or store in the fridge for up to 3-4 days (or frozen for up to 6 months).
     *The dough could also be used for "focaccia like bread". Spread it on a cookie sheet, brush the top with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and dried herbs (i.e. rosemary, basil, Italian seasonings...)

To prepare the pizza, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Divide the dough in half. Lightly drizzle olive oil on pizza pan(s). Using your hands, stretch the dough to the desired shape, pressing the dough into the pan with your fingers. (Surface of dough will be lumpy from finger marks.)

Lay desired toppings over the dough and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges of the crust are golden brown.

As for the go-to sauce... I use THIS ONE from my "Our Best Bites" cookbook. Sooooo much better than anything you can find in the grocery store, and tastes similar to a sauce found on delivery pizza! You can also try a pesto pizza with THIS pesto sauce. Pizza is hard to mess up, have fun!