Homemade Pizza For Pennies

Friday night pizza is a mainstay in many a tired household by the end of a long week. Even if on a tight budget you can enjoy a good pizza and even have control of what goes in and on it for variety and better nutrition.

The recipe originally came from a cookbook called The Food Processor Bread Book by the editors of Consumer Guide, but I got it from a wonderful book called The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn There are three books to this set described as "promoting thrift as a viable alternative lifestyle". This recipe came from book two.

Bread dough made in a food processor requires no hand kneading, just a few spins to form a dough ball, a short rest and you're ready to roll it out and get it in the oven.

THICK AND CHEWY PIZZA DOUGH

1/4 - 3/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F, you don't want it too hot or it'll kill the yeast)
1 package or 1 tablespoon dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine 1/4 cup of the water with the yeast and the sugar in a small bowl.
Stir to dissolve the yeast and let it stand about five to ten minutes till the yeast starts to bubble and rise.

Put the flour, oil, and salt into the food processor and process on blend for about five seconds. Use the steel blade.

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and process about 10 seconds or until blended.

While the food processor is running, slowly drizzle just enough of the remaining water through the feed tube so the dough forms a ball that cleans the sides of the bowl. Once the ball is formed let it spin around about 25 to 30 times.

Put the dough ball onto a 14-inch greased pizza pan. I used a pizza stone and sprinkled corn meal over the surface but if I don't have any cornmeal I grease it with coconut oil.
Cover the dough ball with plastic wrap of a bowl and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Using your fingers or a lightly floured rolling pin press out the dough into a circle shape, leaving a ridge along the sides.
Spread with pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce if you don't have pizza sauce, add your choice of cheese, toppings and pizza seasoning if desired.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.

Remove the pizza pan from the oven, cut and enjoy!

Note:
You can make the dough ball(s) ahead of time and freeze them so you have them on hand.
Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and freeze up to 3 months. When ready to use, remove from the freezer about 12 hours before you need to make the pizza and put in the refrigerator to thaw. Bring out of the fridge about 30 minutes to warm up before attempting to roll it out.