Tomato Basil Pizza

This is what pizza should taste like!

Today was my husbands birthday and he has been asking me to make him pizza from scratch. Now I have no problem cooking any of his requests, but the idea of making the dough by scratch really doesn't set my heart afire. But, it's his birthday and I want him to have a special birthday. I hated the idea of wasting great ingredients if the pizza dough was horrid. I love Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, and one of her favorite meals is her homemade pizza. I trust that she test drives all her recipes and so I used her pizza dough recipe for my husbands birthday dinner request. I decided to photograph my process and you can see my pizza turned out just as hers did. Lets begin!

1 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast
1 1/2 Cups Warm Water (105 - 115 Degrees)
4 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt

1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Here was my only mistake... the water was too hot to add the yeast.

Wait for it to cool between 105 to 115 degrees!

In a medium to large bowl I added the flour, salt, and extra virgin olive oil. and then added the yeast after it has mixed well with the warm water to become active.

Now I am not a rich girl and I would love to have one of those fancy smancy mixin' machines, but I don't. I just used what God gave me at the end of my arms. It was sticky and messy and all over my fingers, but it got the job done and it looked just like Ree's dough.

At this point rub olive oil in the bowl and fold the dough into a ball with a bit of olive oil over, so it won't stick to the bowl. I used my dough right away, but if you decide not to use your dough be sure to put plastic wrap over the top of the bowl and place it into the refrigerator.

Since this recipe yields two pizzas you will only need half of the dough to start your first pizza. Using either a cookie sheet or pizza stone and begin to shape your pizza by spreading out the dough into your desired shape. Next drizzle olive oil all over the dough and place generous helpings of basil on top of your pizza.

Package of fresh basil

2 Fresh Mozzarella Balls

2 - 3 Fresh Roma Tomatoes

Add your mozzarella and tomatoes and top with any extra mozzarella and add some Parmesan cheese.

Place your pizza in the lower half of your oven in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the dough looks golden brown.

I have to say this was a tasty pizza and the dough was great. More important my husband was in pizza heaven and said, "This is the best pizza!" Two bites later he then said, "This was a really good birthday meal." and he kissed me! Mission accomplished.

Enjoy!

All photographs have been watermarked.