Rise Up: Family Pizza Night

I like the idea of a family dinner night. Something with lots of options and a do-it-yourself vibe. And I love pizza. But I don't usually like homemade pizza--the crust is just never right.

However, for my bread pledge, I wanted to give the homemade crust another go. Especially because I had a lot of great leftover roasted vegetables that I just knew would be good on pizza. And so on Sunday night, starting later than we should have considering we were making dough, I attempted a new pizza dough from the recipe in Beth Hensperger's The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook. I even made her sauce, which was great. We all had a great time playing with the dough and constructing the pizzas, even though Sis only wanted breadsticks and Bud only wanted olives on his pizza. Following something Mama had read, we put cheese (cheddar, oddly) right on the dough and then ladled the sauce--apparently it keeps the dough from being too soggy (and it did!). We put it all in the oven on my pizza stone and watched it all bake, getting hungrier by the minute.

And it was well worth the wait. Mmmmmmmm! The dough had great flavor and good crunch, though I left it a little too thick with too big of an edge. But that's more about my rolling skills than about the recipe. Bud wanted more than his quarter and Sis loved her breadsticks. Even Mama and I thought it was as good as we'd ever made at home and much better than frozen (even if it still wasn't as good as delivery). And we did it altogether! So we'll be having pizza again . . . maybe again on Sunday night for our new family theme dinner!

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Basic Pizza Dough

1 1/3 cups water

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in the pan according to manufacturer's instructions. Program for dough cycle and press Start. The dough will be soft.

When the machine beeps at the end, immediately remove the bread pan from the machine and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide into the desired number of portions. Flatten each portion into a disc by kneading a few times then folding the edges into the center. Cover with a damp towel on the work surface to rest for 30 minutes until the dough has increased about 20% in size.

Roll out and shape the dough as directed in your pizza recipe. Or place the dough in plastic zipper bags and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. To use, let rest for 20 minutes at room temperature before rolling out. The dough balls may also be stored in the freezer for up to three months; let the dough defrost in the fridge overnight before using.

[Note: Most of her recipes have you baking at 450F plus for about 12-18 minutes.]

Essential Tomato-Herb Pizza Sauce

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 yellow onion, finely chopped

2-8 oz cans tomato sauce

1 clvoe garlic, pressed, or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano or marjoram leaves (we used Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle)

salt and pepper

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat and saute the onion until soft and the edges begin to brown. Add the tomato sauce, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper to taste. Bring to a low boil and adjust heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Can puree in blender. The sauce will keep in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to a month.

Beth Hensperger, The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook