Pizza Night!

Hubs good buddy's introduced us to awesome homemade pizza a few years ago. Before that I don't think I had made pizza since high school haha. It's basic. Homemade dough and then top and bake! We don't use precise measurement s beyond the dough. When we roll out the dough we roll the edges of the dough up a bit to create a little crust barrier so cheese and toppings don't drip off. Nothing like a grease slick going all over your oven! Not that we have done that more times than I care to admit... Once you have the dough all rolled out transfer it to a pizza paddle that has a generous amount of corn meal sprinkled on it. I like to check to make sure the dough isn't sticking at this point, just give the paddle a little jerk and make sure it slides a bit. We prefer marinara sauce for sauce and then pile on cheese and toppings. Again once it is topped I like to make sure its going to slide off so I jiggle the paddle a little make sure the pizza slides just a little. Then we stick in the oven on a pizza stone. We set the oven to 425 and you want to preheat with the stone in there. Then we just watch the pizzas. I really have no idea how long it cooks, told ya we aren't precise with our pizzas! We do one pizza at a time too. Also a word of warning especially if you haven't done it before, the corn meal on the paddle can come off and right into your oven very easily as well as toppings and stuff can slide off onto the stone and it can all burn a bit. Nothing to worry about really but if you are like us and have a very sensitive smoke detector you may want to turn the oven vent on and open some windows before baking. Our dogs and toddler freak when the alarm goes off :) Our shih-tzu took off down the street once, she hates it that much!

Dough recipe (makes 2 pizzas):
4 1/2 cups flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1/4 cup  olive oil
1/4 C warm water plus 1 & 1/2 C cups water
honey

Combine yeast and 1/4 C warm water and a little honey. I'd say I usually use 1/2-1 tsp honey. Not too much. Give it a mix and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. It should look sort frothy I guess would be the best description. Dump it in mixer and add all the other ingredients. Let the mixer mix on low until the dough has come together and is smooth looking. If it seems really sticky add a little flour and mix some more. Take the dough hook out and cover the bowl with a towel. I let the dough rest for about 4 or 5 hours. Then split it into two equal parts and roll out on a floured surface.