Pizza

Pizza is a comfort food, a food from childhood, and usually something quick and easy to make--unless you're me and you insist on making every last bit of it from scratch. In this case, it's usually a time consuming undertaking, but tasty and well worth the work.

You can top your pizza with a ready made sauce and buy premade dough to make it quick and easy. This pizza is a homemade crust and sauce topped with onions, orange and yellow peppers, mushrooms, roma tomato slices, and faux feta cheese(and was so tasty that the two of us finished it off by ourselves in one night).

Pizza Dough:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups warm water
  

Method:

1. Combine water, yeast, and sugar and wait about five minutes until the mixture gets bubbly.
2. Add in oil, salt, and about half the flour--stir with a spoon until the mixture is smooth.
3. Add the rest of the flour in small batches until a slightly sticky dough is formed.
4. Oil a large bowl, moving the dough ball around until it's coated.
5. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and put in a warm draft free place to rise until it doubles in size. (about an hour)
   
6. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to fit your pizza pan.
7. Lightly sprinkle the pan with cornmeal and place dough on it.
8. Top with your favorite toppings and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until done.

Pizza sauce with a kick:

Ingredients:

• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp of oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp of basil
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne
• sea salt(to taste)
• ground black pepper(to taste)

The method with this is simple: Mix all of your ingredients together until you have it tasting how you want, then spread it over the pizza crust.

Faux Feta Cheese:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb firm or extra firm tofu; crumbled
  
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp nutritional yeast
  

Mix all of your ingredients together, place in a small dish, cover(with a lid or plastic wrap) and refrigerate overnight.

Mmm...I want pizza again now.