We love pizza in this house... and my goodness, we have spent so much money ordering in over the years. Not that we don't occasionally order in, but a few years ago I started to make homemade pizza and it reminds me of childhood when my mom would get the Chef Boyardee crust and sauce and we would make our own at home. It was so much fun!
Well, I am no Chef Boyardee, but I have a fantastic pizza dough recipe and we love it! Here it is:
2 cups warm water
1 package yeast
1 tsp sugar
Combine in a big bowl and let sit until foamy... I always leave for about 20 minutes.
Next, sprinkles mixture with about 1 tsp of salt and add in 4 cups of flour. I just use a big scraper and add in the flour, incorporating one cup at a time until I have a nice, sticky ball of dough. Then I add in 1 more cup of flour to make the dough less sticky (so 5 cups total). I knead the dough with the dough hook on my mixer or just keep using the spatula and work it really well. Form into a nice ball, leave in bowl and cover with a dish towel until doubled in size. I normally punch the dough down and let it rise one more time before using.
Next just take a big pizza pan (I use a rectangular half pan), spray it down with oil, drop that dough on the pan and start pressing out... This amount of dough could easily make 2 pizzas, but I use the big half pan, so I just make one big one...
After pressing out, put in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes to parbake the crust. Take out, slap some sauce and all of your favorite toppings (don't forget cheese) and then back in the oven until melted, bubbly and brown. It is so fabulous... and your family will love it! $25 for a large pizza? No thank you! I just made a humongous, homemade pizza for less than $5!!!
Now, my family likes salad and hubby is quite fond of Caesar Salad. It is super easy to throw together, and even better with this homemade dressing that I make and keep in the fridge!
Bag of romaine lettuce
Croutons
Shredded parmesan cheese
Homemade Caesar Dressing (recipe below)
In a food processor or blender,
2 cups mayo
2 tsp dijon mustard
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3/4 cup grated parmesan
few dashes worchestersire
4 garlic cloves
pepper
salt
Blend all together and place in a big mason jar in the fridge for flavors to combine! This stuff is so delicious!
Toss a few tablespoons with romaine, add croutons and parmesan...
You can also add grilled chicken or shrimp for a more protein packed salad.
