GEORGIA’S HOMEMADE PIZZA

(Here's the finished product)

Here is a picture from family night some years back..   made a lot of varieties of pizza.. 

Ingredients for dough:
2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 pkg. dry yeast
5 - 6 cups all purpose flour

Ingredients for toppings:
2 - 15 oz. jars or cans of pizza sauce
Garlic salt
Parmesan cheese
4 - 8 oz. shredded mozzarella
1/2 pound pepperoni
1 - 4 oz. can drained mushrooms
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
Any other topping you like, including sausage, bacon, ham, olives, chopped tomatoes, pepper rings or jalapenos  (use your imagination)

Place the lukewarm water in a very large bowl (preferably one that is microwavable). Add sugar, salt, and oil and stir to mix...sprinkle dry yeast on top and let sit for about 5 minutes. Stir yeast until completely dissolved and allow mixture to stand in a warm place for another 5 minutes.

Add the first 3 cups to the water/yeast mixture and stir until all the flour disappears. Let sit until bubbles appear on top of the mixture, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, add the rest of the flour until the dough becomes a little more like a big lump of dough.. On a lightly floured bowl, dump out all the dough and with clean, floured hands begin to knead the dough until it becomes a shiny, smooth consistency and a little more elastic. Add a little more flour, if needed, and be sure the dough is not sticking to your fingers. Add oil to the bowl and place the dough into the bowl, turning it once so that the dough is coated in the oil.

To activate the rising process, place the covered bowl (with kitchen towel) into the microwave. Set it for 5 minutes and if your levels are from 1 to 10 for cooking, set it for No. 1 (which is even below the defrost level). This will start the dough to rise without beginning to bake it. Let it sit in microwave until double in size (which usually takes an hour). Punch the dough down and knead a couple of times back into a ball, and replace it into the greased bowl, cover and let sit in a warm place until double again.

In the meantime, prepare  four pans by oiling them lightly and setting aside. This would be a good time to chop your vegetables, if that is what you're putting on your pizza,  and get the cheeses, sauce, and everything else  ready to go.

After it has doubled for the second time, now separate into four  balls, and keep them covered with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out.  Put the first ball onto the floured table and flatten out with the palm of your hand and stretch it and turn it and stretch it again until it starts taking shape. You may also use a rolling pin, if you feel you need to in order to get it to the thickness you want. Quickly place the dough onto the greased pan and with your fingertips, continue to stretch and push the dough to the edges of the pan, making a rim so the sauce will not go over.

With a medium-sized spoon, spread the pizza sauce evenly until it covers out to the edges. At this time, I sprinkle parmesan cheese and a little garlic salt all around the crust area. This adds a nice flavor to the crust when it is baked. Sprinkle mozarella/Italian shredded cheese evenly and then build your pizza as mentioned above.

The oven should be preheated to 450 degrees. When it is ready, and your pizzas are all complete, put them in and check after about 10 minutes...you may want to alternate the one on the top rack to the bottom and vice versa. I usually bake 2 pizzas at a time and watch very carefully so the bottoms do not burn. Total baking time for each pizza should be around 20 minutes, depending upon the thickness of the crust and the amount of toppings it has. The ones with all the vegetables sometimes takes a little longer. The main thing is, you should keep an eye on them and stay close to your oven. The crust should be golden brown and the cheese all melted and bubbly before removing.

(Before baking)