Hellooooo my Casa loverssss. It feels great to share this recipe with you as usual. My boys loveeee pizza and years ago I was the one buying the frozen kind but it just did not feel right, I knew they were not getting the best so I decided to make it myself and this way I was certain of what was in it and most of all, what I felt seeing my boys’ faces when I make something from scratch for them. This is a great recipe and the best part is that you can make your own pizzas, add  ingredients you love and freeze them for the whole family or gatherings and make it a “take out” night.

Ingredients

1 packet of yeast (in the photo I show rapid yeast but I used a regular packet)

1 1/3 cup of warm water, about 110 degrees, not more

3 1/2 cup of all purpose flour

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (you must use extra virgin)

2 teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon of sugar

Preparation

The very first thing you have to do is mix the yeast with the warm water, this is done to activate the yeast. Leave it alone for about 10 minutes. You will know is done because it gets a bit foamy.

On your stand mixer, mix the flour, salt, sugar and extra virgin olive oil on medium speed. Combine all these ingredients for about a minute or so. Make sure you use the fitted attachment to do this.  Add the foamy yeast mixture and reduce the speed to low until is combined. Then, go back to medium speed and let it do its magic for about 7 minutes.

After, cut the mixture into 2 balls and take 2 bowls and lightly grease them with extra virgin olive oil. Cover them with plastic wrap and place them in a warm place in your kitchen. I always use the microwave and leave them alone for about 1 1/2 hours. No peeking!!. As you already know, the dough will rise.

When time’s up, take a bit of flour on a clean surface and start rolling!. 2 balls of dough will make 4 personal pizzas.

Once your dough has the shape and thickness of your choice then you have two options, either bake them like this for about 6 minutes on a 400 degree oven or add the toppings to the uncooked dough and freeze them for a later bake. If you chose to bake them, the place them in a pre-heated pizza stone or if you do not have one, then place them on a pre-heated upside down cookie sheet (like I’m showing below). This will for sure guarantee you a good crust.

What I like to do is bake them half way for about 5 minutes and let them cool, then add pizza sauce and the toppings of my choice and simply freeze them. I do this because since the cheese, toppings and sauce do not take long to cook, once the cheese is melted in about 5 minutes, for me the pizza is ready to eat.

This is what they look like when they are half baked.

I also make a veggie mix on the stove and cook red & green peppers, red onions, mushroom, pitted black olives. And if I want to make it meats lover (above photo), I add pepperoni, ham and sweet Italian sausage. I add the sausage first (no oil required) and I cook them until veggies are soft and meats are done and top the pizza with them. Let the prepared pizzas cool down completely before placing in the freezer. The photo below shows a half way baked pizza, as you can see, the crust has changed its color.

This is how they look already zipped up and already stored in the freezer. Do not worry if the pizza’s shape is not perfect, this is the beauty of making homemade food..all things are allowed!.

When you are ready to make them, take them out of the freezer, if you pre-baked the crust, then all you need is about 6 minutes on a 400 degree oven.If you did not pre-baked the crust ,then you will need 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and super duper bubbly.

Make these with your kids and other members of your family, pop some music and have fun and remember that imperfections are the perfect outcome! lol.

Thank you guys so much for stopping by, I’ll see you in the next post!.