it's time for another recipe

So, in honor of my husband garnering another account which affords him the right to buy his own damn laptop already, I'm declaring it an international make your own pizza holiday. Both Zoli and Julia love my homemade pizza, enough that we are forbidden! by law! to order crappy Hungarian pizza (which fyi, usually has green peas, corn, a fried egg, or sour cream on it; if you're really lucky maybe? ALL THREE!) regardless of how tired one is.

Every region/country has their own rules regarding pizza condiments. For the West Coast it is ranch, Mexico has a sauce called chimichurris (so. yum.), Hungary prefers "pizza szósz" read sauce in native speak. Basically, it is just extra pizza sauce. I was all, haha yeah right, give me my ranch until I tasted it. Talk about a good idea. yum.


Pizza Szósz Nicolle-i Modra (Pizza sauce ala Nicolle which coincidentally, is also my standard spaghetti sauce with the exception of twice the sugar.)

500 g (2 cups) tomato sauce (paste, crushed, however your favorite comes)
2 tsp Basil
1.5 tsp Oregano
pinch Thyme
pinch Rosemary
salt
1-2 T Sugar (depending on tom's acidity)

1. Bring all ingredients to boil, reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes to develop flavors, stirring occasionally.



Pizza Dough

1.5 tsp instant yeast
6 T warm water
6 T milk
2 T oil
1/2 tsp salt
~1.75 cups flour

(the next part is super secret confidential info)

1. As long as the yeast and the salt are added in different sections, i.e. yeast first, salt after flour, you don't need to proof yeast. Just a little something I learned at the bakery...
So, add everything together and knead 5 minutes by hand or do it the fast way in your mixer, (am so envious.) Let dough rise for 30-45 minutes in a warm environment.

Pizza Toppings

30dkg. (1.5 cups) mozzarella or nice melty cheese of your choice.
vegetables of choice
meats of choice




Assembly

1. Pre-heat oven to 400-ish F. Punch dough down and let rest 5 minutes. Roll out to desired specs. Lightly oil pan*, place dough on top, and repeatedly stab with a fork.

*Have you ever had a well made piece of foccaccia? You know how the bottom is golden and a little crispy? That's why the oil.



2. Spread desired amount of sauce (for us, I double the dough recipe and use 2/3 of sauce, reserving 1/3 for dipping) on top of dough. Follow with 2/3 of cheese. Place desired toppings meats first on top of cheese. Cover with remaining cheese.






3. Bake 25 minutes or until done. I measure the doneness by gently lifting a corner when crust is golden and verifying goldenness of bottom. If golden, then done. Let rest in pan 5-10 minutes. Slice. Serve.