Delicious, delicious pizza.

Well, I have finally perfected a recipe for pizza that my entire family and the kids next door will all eat. It doubles and triples wonderfully, and bakes just as nicely on a half-sheet pan as it does in a cast iron skillet. Now you too can make my pizza! If you just want to look at the pictures, they are at this tag on my Flickr. Otherwise, let us continue...

( Pizza! )

Not illustrated recipe:

1 tsp honey or other sweetener (do not use Splenda or Equal, though)
1 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water
1 heaping tsp kosher salt (or 1 scant tsp table salt)
1-3/4 - 2 cups flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
about 1/2 cup marinara sauce
9 oz shredded cheese, any blend (I use 8 oz mozzarella & 1 oz romano; people swap out the romano for things like pepperjack, cheddar, or ricotta)
some kind of filling (optional)

Mix the honey, yeast, and water. Add salt and flour. While stirring the flour into the mixture, stream in the olive oil. Knead for about a minute to bring the dough together. Oil the bowl and roll the dough in the oil. Cover with a damp towel (or some cling film) and set in a warm place to rise for about 90 minutes. It won't double in size or anything -- it will just swell slightly.

Knead the air out of the dough, then set it aside to rest for 20 minutes. Oil your pan (even if it is a cast iron skillet). Roll out the dough (or press it out with your knuckles). Dock the dough with a fork. If you're baking in a dish with sides and you've pressed the dough up the sides, be sure to dock the sides!

Spread out the first layer of cheese. It should only be about an ounce. Sauce goes over that. You can use more than 1/2 cup sauce, but be careful -- there's not really a place for the water in the sauce to go, so it will make your pizza soggy. If you like a lot of sauce, I suggest cooking it down first, to make it thick and evaporate a lot of the liquid. Add your fillings (I usually use veggie sausage, or whatever leftover vegetables are in the fridge, like sauteed spinach or fried mushrooms or caramelized onions or roasted peppers). The rest of the cheese goes on top.

Bake at 450F for 20 minutes. If the cheese isn't browned sufficiently to your liking after that, you can leave it in for another 5 or 10 minutes without burning the crust, but it's deliciously golden after 20 minutes, so I usually just put it under the broiler for a minute or two to finish browning the cheese.

Make sure you let it rest for 3 - 5 minutes. Then mangia!