Friday nights are meant to be spent with family, at least in my humble opinion. After the crazy rush of the week, all I want is down-time. For me, that means Friday Night Pizza and a movie with my sweet kids and fabulous husband. In less than the time it takes to order a pizza and have it delivered, I can have Friday Night Pizza on my plate and watching a movie. (Disclaimer: No one will deliver pizza to our house in the country, so we do have to go and get it when we order carry out. This means 40 minutes of driving time, minimum.)
This recipe comes from my mentor, Cinda. It is actually the recipe I use in my Foods II Pizza Lab. My students love it, and it is so easy that a pizza novice will experience success. Due to class time at school, we actually make the pizzas one day and bake them the second day. The extra rising time in the refrigerators makes for a nice, thick, crust.
Items Necessary for Success:
- A large pizza pan, preferably 16 inches or so
- A large bowl for mixing dough–all the mixing is done in ONE bowl and that saves time!
- A stash of your favorite pizza toppings–we keep pepperoni and mozzarella in the freezer at all times!
- Warm water (not HOT!)–you must keep the yeasty-beasties happy. Too hot of water equals dead yeast.
- Sauce ingredients–these are always in our pantry
- Preheat the oven to 425° F before starting the recipe–this takes the longest amount of time.
Here is the time breakdown: 5 minutes to make the crust, 2 minutes to make the sauce, 1 minute to press crust into pan, 2-3 minutes for adding toppings, 15-20 minutes baking. Due to some extra topping chopping, I had pizza in 45 minutes. This might take longer than those frozen pizzas, but the taste is far superior. I don’t worry about added, unhealthy, ingredients that my family is consuming. I can have veggies on my 1/4 of the pizza and everyone else can have the pepperoni and green olives. This is also a great way to use up leftovers…add BBQ sauce, chopped/cooked chicken, red onion, and cheddar cheese and you can have BBQ chicken pizza.
I hope that you’ll give Friday Night Pizza a try at the end of your week. Mix up the dough, let the kids help add the toppings, and be ready for pizza hot-out-of-the-oven in 20 minutes. It will make your evening much less hectic, and you will have time to enjoy the start of the weekend with your family!
Friday Night Pizza (Faster & Better than Delivery or That Frozen Stuff)
Notes
If refrigerating overnight, wrap tightly with plastic wrap. The extra time will allow the crust to rise and instead of a thinner crust it will be much thicker. No need to bring to room temperature after refrigerating. Simply place in preheated oven.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 pkg. yeast (or 1 Tbsp. bulk)
- 2 1/2 c. flour
- 2 T. oil
- 1 c. warm water (105-115 degrees)
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
Sauce
- 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)
- 1 tsp. onion flakes
- 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- Desired toppings and cheese
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 425° F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.
- Beat vigorously 20 strokes. Let dough rest 5 minutes.
- Press crust onto greased pizza pan or cookie sheet.
Sauce
- Mix all sauce ingredients together.
- Spread over crust.
- Add desired toppings
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until browned, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Bake as instructed.