I don’t know too many people who don’t love pizza. It’s near the top of my list of all-time favorite foods, whether it’s a supreme, veggie, some gourmet concoction or just plain cheese. There are so many great places that will deliver, but sometimes I just like making my own. I have a super-easy dough recipe, and the kids love creating their own pies, piling the toppings on high.

I cheat and use my bread machine to make a basic dough – it does all of the hard work. I love my bread machine, yes I do.

Here’s the recipe from my Zojirushi bread machine guide (note: I use garlic salt instead of regular salt):

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup          water
• 1 ½ Tbsp.       extra virgin olive oil
• 3 ¾ cups         bread flour
• 1 ½ Tbsp.       sugar
• 1 ½ tsp.          garlic salt
• 2 tsp.               pizza yeast

Preparation

Add the ingredients according to your bread machine’s directions (I add mine in the order listed above.) Cook accordingly – for this dough I use the Quick setting, which takes 45 minutes. Once the dough is finished, remove it from the bread machine.

Shape the dough into a ball. I divide the dough in half to make two 14” pizzas, and use this wonderful Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch® Nonstick Pizza Crisper ($21.00) that gives the pie a crisp, golden crust. The pan has a perforated surface that exposes the bottom of the pizza to direct heat. It is one of my favorite pieces of bakeware, and well worth the money.

Lightly flour your working surface and rolling pin, and roll the dough out until it will fit on the pan.

Spray the pan with cooking spray. Place the rolled dough in the pan, and make sure that it comes all the way up to the edge. I “crinch” the dough against the side so the toppings won’t spill out. Brush the crust with olive oil, cover and let stand for 15 minutes.

Spoon the sauce over the dough (you can either make your own or buy already made pizza sauce.) I usually sprinkle the sauce with garlic salt or powder and oregano.

Top it with your choice(s) of cheese (I love to get the shredded stuff and use a few different types) and other ingredients.

Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F or until the cheese gets bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

This time the kids chose pepperoni and sausage for their toppings. I created an “I love olives” pie and this is one of my favorite veggie pizzas. Brad chowed down on both. This stuff is awesome the next day (if there’s any left) and actually microwaves quite nicely. Otherwise, I just heat it in a frying pan with a tiny bit of oil until it is warmed through to keep the crust nice and crispy.

Here’s Gabe and Lexi making their pie (Gabe, would you like a little ham with that pie?):

And here it is, hot out of the oven:

These are the ingredients for my “I love olive” pie (the olives were just what I had on hand – I would probably add some kalamatas or other varieties available at the olive bars in many grocery stores):

Piping hot, fresh out of the oven:

Add a salad and a glass of wine, and it’s ready to devour!

Please share your bread machine pizza dough recipes, especially any good herb crusts.

Bon Appetit!