Anyone say pizza?--Updated 2/16/09

Like our burger buddy, pizza gets a bad rap. Poor, poor pizza. Once again we let a fast food industry dictate our interpretation of what a particular food should be and therefore we typically think of pizza as high fat, greasy and generally bad for you. I would like to persuade you to think outside the bun...I mean box. Say it with me, "any food can be made well or poorly", and that is true for the pizza. Pizza lovers rejoice.








This is my FAVORITE pizza dough recipe ever. The only change I make is substituting 1 cup of white flour with wheat flour. It literally takes only minutes to make. I made it this morning before I took the kids to school and came back at 5 pm ready to roll and top.





The kids pizza was cheese and ours was sauteed (low sodium, nitrate free) sausage and mushrooms w/ fresh mozzarella. YUM!





pizza dough



adapted from

Bon Appétit March 2007





This dough is easy to handle and will give you a crispy crust that's also tender.



3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)


1 envelope or about 2 t of rapid rise or instant yeast


2 cups (or more) flour**


1 teaspoon sugar


3/4 teaspoon salt


3 tablespoons olive oil

Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl, and wet ingredients in another. Then mix the two together and KNEAD dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. PUNCH down dough. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. ROLL out dough according to recipe instructions. (Start in center of dough, working outward toward edges but not rolling over them.)

(Can also be thrown together in a food processor and pulsed for about 20 seconds or until dough is smooth and well combined. )




**Again, I use 1 cup oat flour, and 1 cup wheat flour. I also use other flours like, spelt, and amaranth to name a few. Key is diversity. You can also through in some flax seeds. My kids like it best when my parents make it with unbleached white flour, but I'm not that nice!






Roll out thin and top with whatever you want. Bake 15-18 minutes at 400 degrees.