Pizza doughncha know

I promise you this: In the same amount of time you'd spend making a menu decision, placing an order, and awaiting the arrival of your delivery pizza, you can make a pizza from scratch. If you've seen ten seconds of any show on either the Cooking Channel or Food Network, you've heard celebrity chefs make similar claims; I'm here to assure you that it's not only possible, but it's a fantastic idea. 

Learn how to make a simple pizza dough, keep a few topping options on hand, and know how to preheat your oven. That's all it takes to create a pizza that's actually worth blogging about.

the damages

1 cup dry measuring cup
1 cup liquid measuring cup
1 tablespoon measuring spoon
Stand mixer bowl and dough hook
Cookie sheet
Large spatula
Cutting board
Pizza cutter or chef's knife

the ingredients

Yeast
Flour
Salt
Sugar
Olive oil
Pizza toppings (more on that below)

the preparation

Prepare the pizza dough following the recipe in Joy of Cooking. This takes about 10 minutes of work and has to rest for 1.5-2 hours before baking, so plan accordingly to either make it waaaay before dinner or... like me... have a very late dinner because IT'S THAT GOOD.

Creating a pizza from scratch affects each of my senses. The dough feels airy and silky, my fingers smell like freshly crushed garlic, I love listening to fresh sauce bubbling on the stove and tasting it as it cooks so I can adjust the seasonings, and I can't stop watching the clock, hoping it's almost time to punch down the dough. (At the punch-down point, preheat your oven to 475f.)

Top the pizza with... practically anything. That's why I'm skipping right to...

...tips and techniques

• The best tasting pizza has few ingredients and perhaps no tomato sauce at all
• If you enjoy a combination of flavors together on a plate, it'll probably work just as well on pizza dough: steak and asparagus, kalamata olives and feta cheese, bacon and eggs (just checking if you're still reading...)
• If you INSIST on using sauce, try making your own by either doctoring up some canned sauce (add herbs, red wine, fresh garlic, etc) or making your own from scratch (more on this in a future blog post)
• Coat your cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray so the pizza slides right off
• If, like mine, your pizza turns out... let's say "irregularly shaped"... then shamelessly cut in perpendicular lines and leave the perfect wedges to the pros

Up next: Bhan learns how to throw dough, just like her boyfriend.