Pizza is my comfort food. It makes a bad day better; it just does! In an effort to save money and be a little healthier, we often make pizza at home. I have tried to make pizza in the past and it just wasn’t that great, but I have figured it out. This is seriously good pizza.

It started with a recipe for no-rise pizza dough, and it all came together when Carlos and I watched a free class on how to make pizza.

First, the dough: this recipe (see the end of this post for the recipe) is good and it is super fast. My food processor does all the work and I am done and ready to make a pizza in 5 minutes.

Second, Carlos and I took a free pizza-making class on Craftsy (I am in no way affiliated with Craftsy, we just happened to take the class and learn a lot). The Art of Making Pizza is still free if anyone wants to watch the video.

Two keys we learned were that we need a pizza stone and paddle, and that we should bake pizza at the highest possible temperature — our oven goes up to 550 degrees. We learned a lot more, but those are the 2 huge life-changing ones that stick out to me.

This has made our pizzas amazing. In the summer, we make margarita pizza with fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil.  In the winter, I still use fresh mozzarella most of the time, but I also have homemade sauce, shredded mozzarella, and cooked ground sausage in the freezer. Having everything in the freezer makes it so much easier to have a last-minute pizza night.

We typically make each person their own pizza. The kids love putting on their own topping, plus it cooks in 4 or 5 minutes. I should mention that I can’t make my pizzas round to save my life. Mine are usually random unrecognizable shapes. The only reason the photos show a round pizza is because I was taking photos when Carlos was making his.

No Rise Pizza Dough

I wrote this recipe down from a blog ages ago, and can’t remember where it is from. If anyone happens to know, I would love to link to them for credit.

½ cup plus 2 T. of warm water
2 ½ tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 packet)
1 tsp. sugar
½ cup plus 2 T. bread flour
¾ tsp. salt
1 T. extra virgin olive oil

In the same measuring cup that the water is in, add in the sugar and yeast. Mix and let stand for a couple of minutes to activate the yeast.

In a food processor fitted with a blade, combine bread flour, salt & olive oil. While the machine is running, pour the mixture through the feed tube. Let the machine run until it forms a dough.  Add more flour or sugar as needed to get a smooth dough.