Parker House Pizza

Homemade pizza has become an obsession. I admit it. When I was first married, I was given a homemade pizza recipe from my great-aunt Buhla, a rancher's wife who raised eight kids and knew how to cook for a crowd. It was a good basic recipe, but over the years I've experimented with a few things of my own. The dough recipe has remained unchanged, but the manipulations to the dough afterwards have made all the difference. The biggest secret in making homemade pizza taste and look professional is heat. You have to bake at 500 degrees to make the dough crisp and golden brown on the outside, and chewy but done on the inside. It also makes a nice golden hue on the cheese, while not robbing the cheese of all the moisture. A couple of other tips are to use high protein bread flour, not all-purpose, use a good pizza stone, and take it easy on the sauce -- don't over apply.

Pizza Dough:

1 T. yeast

1 c. slightly hot water

1 T. sugar

1 T. oil

Combine in a large glass measuring cup and allow to stand for 15 minutes.

In an electric mixer with a dough hook combine:

2 1/4 c. bread flour

2 t. salt

While mixing, slowly add the wet ingredients. After the ingredients are thoroughly mixed together, continue to knead dough for two minutes. Add flour if dough is still too sticky. Dough should form a ball. Remove dough and pour 1 T. oil in the bottom of bowl. Return dough to bowl and roll around in the oil to completely coat. Cover bowl with dish towl and let rise one hour or until double in size. Punch down dough and turn out onto a counter dusted in cornmeal. Roll out in a circle about two inches larger in diameter than your pizza stone. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour before folding it in half to move it to the stone. Roll edges of dough over twice to form a nice crust around the edge of the pizza stone.

Pizza Sauce:

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

1/4 c. parmesean cheese

1 t. garlic salt

1 t. Italian herb seasoning

1 t. sugar

1 t. pepper

1 T. water

Combine and spread on the inside of pizza crust. I usually have enough for two pizzas.

Top with any topping of your choice: browned sausage, pepperoni, canadian bacon, pineapple tidbits, chopped green pepper, fresh sliced mushrooms, olives, etc. Finally top with fresh mozzarella, asagio, or parmesean cheese, or a mixture of any cheeses you like.

Bake in a preheated oven at 500 degrees for 7 - 8 minutes. Watch it carefully since you are baking at such a high heat and take the pizza out when the cheese starts to brown and bubble. If you leave it in too long, your cheese will dry out and the crust will burn.