Homemade Artisan Pizza

Someone mentioned to me recently that we posted a lot of stuff about pizza...and I completely agree.  Pizza is good, cheap, and insanely easy to make.  So far, we've eaten out at a lot of pizza places, but we hadn't made a pizza ourselves.  Well, I decided to change that and make a pizza from scratch that didn't require but two ingredients for the crust.  Now my inspiration stems from brick oven or coal-fire pizzas, which in my opinion have the most character of any type of handmade pizzas, and they can be dressed with the most basic or advanced ingredients, depending upon your preference.

Before we get too far into this, let's mention what two ingredients you need for your crust:

• 1 Cup of Self-Rising Flour (keep a little extra on the side for dusting the board)
• 1 Cup of Greek Yogurt

From here on out, the ingredients of the pizza are totally up to your liking.  A few other tools that may be useful in your pizza making adventure, but are not necessary: a floured board or table, a pizza stone, a wooden or aluminum pizza peel, and a rolling pin.

First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Next, take the cup of flour and cup of greek yogurt and mix them together in a bowl, stir, and form a ball out of the dough; if still too watery, add a sprinkling of additional flour as needed.  This is a fast mixture that is perfect for those of us who don't have enough time to actually play around with a proper mixture, which entails yeast, and as we all know that process takes much more time.  Turn the ball out onto your floured board or table, and gently knead the dough for about 5-8 minutes, adding flour to the board as needed (as some sticking may occur).  The more you knead your dough, the more pliability and stretch you'll receive.  After kneading, roll out by hand or use your rolling pin for your desired shape.

The next step is to top the pizza however you feel.  I'm typically just a pepperoni and cheese type of guy, but I decided to just improvise this one, which worked in my favor.  My pizza included a jar of fire-roasted red tomatoes and a little bit of tomato paste to make the sauce, fresh basil, prosciutto, and a small amount of fresh mozzarella.  Once you've chosen ingredients and topped your pizza, toss in the oven (pizza pan or on the heated pizza stone) for up to 20 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned and cheese is melted and/or lightly browned to your liking.  Let cool for about 5 minutes, serve and enjoy.

This is one of the easiest things I've ever made, and minus the prosciutto and basil, the basic ingredients (flour, Greek yogurt & tomatoes) cost me a whopping 8 bucks.  Sure, it takes a little more time than picking up the phone and dialing out for pizza, but ultimately is much more rewarding of an experience.  Share this recipe with your kids or your significant other, I promise they'll appreciate the time and effort that goes into the meal.

Be adventurous and try new things...rather than settling for store bought or ordering out.  Enjoy your food, and as always...

Eat on.

--Justin

BTW - On a personal note, this is my last post on Mealightenment Blogs for a while, as my wife and I are moving.  I will continue to oversee operations on the blog here in Indy, but will also chronicle my explorations in my new city of Tampa, FL.  Starting in July, check out/subscribe to mealightenmenttampa.blogspot.com, and follow @MealightTampa on Twitter to track my exploits as I "search & devour" the best Tampa has to offer.  Be sure to keep an eye on the boys here in Indy as they continue to do their thing and make strides here on the home turf.  Thanks again for your support -- Everyone have a great summer!