mmmm... Pizza

this is chicken pesto pizza. yummers!

I love pizza. It is so yummy. It is so versatile. It is so customizable. It can be so different depending on how it is made.

We have our favourite pizza shops. We are lucky to have one just down the street from us who makes really good pizza. Nothing is worse than pizza that has such a hard crust that it cuts the roof of your mouth. Or has no flavour. The bad thing with getting pizza no matter whether from a pizza shop or frozen at your store is that is has added grease, added preservatives and who knows what else in it. These days I have been making my own pizza and man is it yummy. Yes, my 5 year old keeps wanting pizza from the store. But, I'm sure she will turn it around. I mean, it's homemade, using my own two hands. Now if that doesn't deserve some rounds of applause, I don't know what will.

Here is the recipe for my homemade whole wheat pizza dough.

about 2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour (If you want a softer dough you can change it for all-purpose flour or a mixture of the two. I usually just use whole wheat flour.)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp sugar
2-1/4 tsp yeast
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup very warm water

In a large bowl stir 1 cup of the flour, the sea salt, sugar and yeast. Then add the olive oil and the water. Stir together. Add enough flour so the mixture isn't sticking to your hands and knead the dough. Add the flour a little at a time. You can always add more if needed but you can't take it out again. You don't want an over floured dough. I knead it right in the bowl. Knead until the dough is springy and then let it rest for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough onto your cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven of 425 for 10 minutes and then decorate. Put back in the oven until the cheese is nice and gooey. And voila homemade pizza.

You can use a pizza stone if you would like, but I prefer to use a cookie sheet. I don't care if my pizza is round and would rather not go through the hassle of trying to make beautifully circular pizza.

If you are using all-purpose flour you may need a bit more. I find when I am using 100% whole wheat flour I don't need to use as much of it.

I hope you enjoy making some homemade pizza this week! What are your favourite pizza toppings?