Cookbook:Pizza Vanegas

| Cuisine of Italy | Pizza

Dough

 * 1 cup warm water
 * 3 tbsp active dry yeast
 * 1 tbsp white granulated sugar
 * 1 lb all purpose flour
 * ¼ cup olive oil

Toppings

 * Pepperoni
 * 8 oz mozzarella cheese
 * ½ can (15 oz) of Hunt's Family Favorites Pizza sauce
 * 1 small onion, finely diced
 * 1 small red pepper, finely diced
 * 3 ½ oz sliced mushrooms
 * Oregano
 * Salt
 * Black pepper

Procedure

 * 1) Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 cup warm water.
 * 2) Combine 3 cups of flour, olive oil, one tsp of salt, and the yeast-water mixture. Knead for 15 minutes, adding more flour until dough is no longer very sticky.
 * 3) Coat dough with a little oil (about 1 tsp) and place it into a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 45 minutes until the dough is twice its original size.
 * 4) Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C for at least 30 minutes).
 * 5) Gently deflate dough in order to eliminate air bubbles.
 * 6) Cut dough into 2 pieces (you can freeze dough to bake later for up to a month).
 * 7) Roll out dough to form a rounded pizza crust.
 * 8) Add pizza sauce (½ can per pizza), and sprinkle onion, red pepper, salt, oregano and black pepper.
 * 9) Bake 10 minutes.
 * 10) Take out of the oven, add mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and mushrooms.
 * 11) Return to the oven and bake until cheese melts.
 * 12) Cut into eight slices, and enjoy!

Notes, tips, and variations

 * Water must be warm but not boiling in order to activate yeast. Boiling water will kill the yeast.
 * You can replace ¼ of water cup with milk. You can also replace the sugar with 1 tbsp honey.
 * If you like a stronger cheese flavor, you can add, for example, little chunks of bleu cheese, on top of the other ingredients.
 * Try to keep the mushrooms fairly dry. Mushrooms are like sponges, and will lose unwanted water on to your pizza.
 * You can try different toppings to basic pizza dough, and even add cheese borders. To do so, you should roll out pizza into a larger size, adding cheese one inch from the border, and little pizza sauce. Roll dough over the cheese and press firmly to close.