Tasty Homemade Pizza Recipe

Pour the canned tomatoes, oil, garlic, and basil into a blender and purée until a smooth sauce.

Add sugar and salt to taste.

Prepare your desired toppings by slicing, dicing, or chopping to your preference.

Place the block of cheese into the freezer 15 minutes before grating and adding to the pizza. This helps make the grating process a little easier and prevents the cheese from sticking together and clumping. Avoid using pre-shredded cheese as they are normally coated with starch.

Be creative with your toppings and be careful with using different types of cheese because of their moisture content.

Clean the work surface and set aside a small bowl of flour for dusting the area to prevent the dough from sticking during the kneading process.

Place a small bowl with 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the side for coating the dough and bowl before rising

Into another small bowl, dissolve the sugar into the warm water.

Add and lightly mix the active dry yeast to the sugar-water solution and allow it to rest undisturbed for at least 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, a foam of bubbles should appear on the surface of the water. This will mean your yeast is active.

Into a large bowl, mix the flour and salt, then make a well in the center of the center of the dry mix.

Pour the activated-sugar-water-yeast-liquid and the oil into the well in the dry mix and use your hands to mix the ingredients.

As the dry and wet mix forms a shaggy texture, turn the bowl out and remove all ingredients onto the work surface.

Bring all the ingredients together by kneading them until they come together in the shape of a ball.

Use the bowl of flour set aside to dust the work surface to prevent the dough from sticking to it. Alternatively, if the ingredients are too dry and not coming together, add a little more warm water (50 ml) until the dough forms.

Once a dough ball begins to form, set your timer for 10 minutes to knead the ball. This will activate the gluten and give the pizza dough a nice texture when cooked.

After 10 minutes of kneading, test the dough by pressing it into the ball with your finger. If the indent pops out quickly like memory foam, the dough is ready. If not, continue kneading until the dough passes this test.

When the dough is ready, shape it into a smooth ball and coat it with oil. Then place it into a large bowl with enough room to allow the dough to double in size. Coat the plastic wrap or cover with oil and cover over the top of the bowl.

Set the bowl aside in a cool place where it will be undisturbed for at least 1 hour or until it doubles in size. Alternatively, you can place the bowl on the bottom shelf of the fridge for 24 hours. This longer rising time will add to the texture and depth of flavor to the final dough.

Remove the dough from the bowl onto the flour-dusted work surface and knead for about a minute before cutting into quarters.

Take each piece and form into a ball. Coat with oil and place into individual bowls or onto a large tray with enough space for them to rise again.

If you will be ready to make the pizzas in an hour, set the balls aside in a cool place where they will not be disturbed to allow them to rise for an hour.

If you will not be ready in an hour, place the balls onto the fridge's bottom shelf and allow them to rise until an hour before you are prepared. Then one hour before you are ready to make the pizza, remove them from the fridge and place them in a cool place where they will be undisturbed for the hour. This will allow them time to come to room temperature.

Set up the oven with a rack on the very top and a rack in the middle.

Place your baking surface in the middle. The pizza will be placed on top of this while baking in the closed oven.

Optional: If you have an extra baking stone, roti tawa or cast iron pan, place it on the top rack. This will increase the heat in the oven without blocking the direct heat coming from the bottom.

Preheat the oven on the highest setting possible for at least 10 minutes before you are ready to bake a pizza.

With a pizza oven, use as directed by the manufacturer's instructions.

When working a ball of dough into the flat pizza shape, look at it as the round face. You will be working the dough from the center to the outer edges in each of the 12ths of the hour. From the center, you work toward 9 & 3, then 8 & 2, 7 & 1, and so on as you rotate the dough clockwise. Do not use a rolling pin, as this will remove all the air from the dough.

Dust your work surface with flour and place the dough ball onto it.

Use your fingertips moving from the center of the dough out toward the sides in a quick press and lift motion pressing into the dough and lifting out of the dough moving toward 9&3.

Then rotate the dough and repeat the press and lift motion from the center, moving toward 8&2.

Continue to rotate, press, and lift until you have stretched the pizza out to the desired shape and size of your baking surface.

If you are confident and adventurous, feel free to experiment with other dough shaping techniques just stay away from using a rolling pin.

When you are happy with the size of the pizza dough, dust the surface of the pizza peel or large wooden cutting board with cornmeal and carefully place the stretched pizza dough onto it.

Place a sized ladle scoop of tomato sauce onto the center of the pizza dough. Using the bottom of the spoon in a spiral motion, move the sauce from the center out toward the sides, covering the entire surface except for a small 1-inch margin on edge for your crust.

Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top of the tomato sauce, then add your toppings. Depending on how thin or thick your dough is will determine how many toppings you can put because you do not want to overload the dough.

Once you are finished topping the pizza, open the oven and carefully shimmy, shake and slide the pizza onto the baking surface.

Close the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden, and the crusts look toasted and brown.

Remove the pizza by carefully sliding the pizza peel or cutting board between the pizza and the cooking surface with a shimmy and shake to slide the pizza off and out of the oven.

Allow the pizza to cool before cutting, serving, and eating. Serve with optional condiments of grated Parmesan, red pepper flakes, or your favorite flavored olive oil.