Will Work For Pizza!

Fridays are the light at the end of the tunnel for this West Virginia girl. I look forward to a slow Friday evening and being productive on the weekends. Does anyone else enjoy Friday or are you more of a Saturday person?

As one would expect a Friday dinner should be easy. You should barely have to cook, if any at all. This pizza recipe was extremely easy to pull off and it felt as if I was cooking the sauce, crust and pizza more than I actually did. After dinner clean up is a breeze but as I am typing this, my husband is the one cleaning up. (insert mushy love quote) But truthfully, he is such a huge help to our family.

Anyways, below is the recipe for the dough, and sauce. Let me know if you try this recipe and how well you like it!

Whole Wheat Dough

• 1 tsp granulated sugar

• 1 tbsp honey

• 1 1/4 cups warm water

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp active dry yeast

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1. Mix together the warm water, honey, active dry yeast and sugar. Allow ADY to proof until foamy (approx 5 minutes) I used my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.

2. Next, add the salt, olive oil and flour to the yeast mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon or dough attachment until the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

3. If the dough is still very much in liquid, add more flour 1/4 cup at a time. You can always add more but cannot take away what you have already poured into the mixture.

4. Knead the dough for around five minutes, or use the stand mixer on medium speed. Make sure the dough is coming together, smooth and elastic.

5. Cover the the dough with a tea towel or plastic wrap and allow to sit until the dough has doubled in size for an hour. A quick tip is that you can put your bowl of dough on a heating pad to allow the dough to rise more quickly.

6. Once the dough has risen, put some flour down on your counter and empty the dough onto the floured surface.

7. Start by slowly rolling out the dough until it is the desired size that you want. Do not force the dough to stretch because it potentially will tear. If the dough starts shrinking back to size when rolling out, allow the dough to sit for a few minutes and try again.

8. Preheat your oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare your pizza stone or sheet tray with olive oil.

Easy Pizza Sauce

• 15 oz can tomato sauce

• 2 tbsp butter

• 1/4 cup all purpose flour

• 1 tsp chicken broth dry seasoning

• salt and pepper (desired amounts)

• 1 tbsp dry basil

• 1 tbsp each garlic powder and onion powder

• 1 tsp dill and 1 tbsp parsley flakes

1. Start by heating the butter in a skillet over low medium heat. The temperature does not need to be extremely hot because the butter can burn. Add slowly a little flour each time and stir into the butter. This is creating a roux to be the thickening agent that the sauce will need.

2. Continue adding flour until the roux is a paste and not clumps of flour. The more smooth the roux is will allow your sauce to be clump free and mix together easier. Cook for around 5 minutes.

3. Next, add in the 15oz can of tomato sauce and add water into the can x2 to add liquid and get the remaining tomato sauce out of the can.

4. Add all of the spices to the skillet and bring to a boil.

5. Once sauce starts to boil turn the heat back down to low-medium and reduce.

• Place the pizza dough in the oven without any ingredients to allow the middle to cook before the sauce and toppings are added. This should be done for 10 minutes and remove from the oven.

• Add the sauce and all of the toppings that you want and put back in the oven until the cheese has melted and the crust is crispy.

I promise you this whole wheat pizza crust is worth the try because you and your family will love it! As always, if you make this recipe please let me know what you think. I will be back soon with some weekend favorites!!

XOXO,

Miranda S.