Homemade Pizza at Mom's

Homemade Pizza at Mom’s

So Fresh, So Good!

When you have a large family & going out to eat isn’t an option, you learn how to cook. With a family of 8 kids, my parents didn’t take us out to eat, and if they did it was those 10 burgers for $1.00 across from the Fresno ZOO way back in the day! My dad loved animals and it was his tradition to take us all to the zoo at least once a month.

Back home, my mom would make all our meals from scratch. I would watch her in the kitchen cooking up meals and I would sneak a hot tortilla off the grill then add some butter and roll it up tight before sinking my teeth into it.

As we got older, my sisters started sharing in the cooking. they would come home with all kinds of recipes they learned in Home Economics at Teague Elementary which was K-8^th grade. One of our favorites on a Friday night was homemade pizza. We would make the dough from scratch with flour, yeast, salt, warm water, and a bit of olive oil. Then came the sauce, the simplest ever. Tomato sauce, salt, pepper, olive oil. Mozzarella cheese, fresh organic basil, and oregano are the best. But you can add anything else you want.  Then bake and eat.

Our pizza’s were pretty good, we would also make pizza’s for the youth group at the church across the street on Friday nights. We were like an assembly line, cranking them out. Everyone had their job, dough, sauce, toppings, cheese, bake and slicing.

As the youngest of 5 girls, my sisters taught me many things, mostly from watching. I learned how to cook from both my mom and my sisters, not to be afraid to try things out. I have 2 younger brothers so there was always someone to taste it and let me know if it was good or not. As I reflect more and more on my childhood, I find that there are gems buried inside of me that have been hidden way too long. I’m appreciating my siblings, the fights, the laughter, playing in the yard, getting wet with the water hose, picking a peach off one of our trees, or picking some grapes off the vines we had at home. It has peeks both high and low but they are what make us who we are. We can shed the things that we don’t like and hold on to the memories of all of us, just being kids in the late 60’s until graduating in the late 70’s.

Recipe:

• Dough- I bought some ready made at Winco under $2.00 pretty clean ingredients
• 3 1/2 – 4 cups of unbleached, unrefined flour
• 1 ¼ cups filtered warm water ( 110-115 degrees)
• 1 teaspoon of Redmond’s Real Salt
• ¾  teaspoon sugar or none
• 1/3 cup of olive oil

Mix warm water, sugar, then add yeast and whisk until dissolved. Let stand until bubbles form on surface. In a large bowl, whisk 3 cups of flour, salt,1/2 teaspoon sugar. Make a well in center, add yeast mixture and oil. Stir until smooth. Add enough flour to form a small dough.

Turn on a floured surface, knead, adding more flour so it’s no longer sticky and dough is smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Transfer bowl to refrigerator and chill overnight. Allow dough to get to room temperature before rolling out, approximately 30 minutes.

Pizza Sauce

• 1 can of tomato sauce
• ½ teaspoon of Redmon’s Real salt
• ½ teaspoon of black organic pepper
• 1 tablespoon of organic cold pressed olive oil.
• ½ teaspoon of organic garlic powder

Mix all 4, taste it. If you think it needs more salt or pepper-add it in. You may want to add a teaspoon of olive oil. The olive oil stops the sauce from drying out in the oven.  Use as you prefer.

Roll out your pizza dough, add your pizza sauce, add in your fresh organic basil and oregano. As much or as little as you want. Add in any other toppings.

Bake at 450 degrees. Use a baking sheet and leave in for 8 minutes, then check on it. Check the dough and toppings, depending on how hot your oven runs, it could take up to 12 minutes or as little as 8 minutes. You’ll know when it’s ready.

And enjoy!!