Tomato Basil Pizza

I love pizza. It's one of my go-to meals after a long day. And while I love the convenience of picking up a pizza from Domino's, I've realized that putting together my own pizza is not really that much more time consuming AND (depending on the toppings) it feeds our family of four for around $3. Can't beat that! The possibilities are endless with the toppings too. It seems I can always find something to throw on top of a pizza, whether it's leftover chicken or pepperoni. This is my favorite pizza recipe from the Pioneer Woman's Cookbook, only I've been using whole wheat flour (which surprisingly, our family likes better).

FOR THE CRUST (MAKES TWO CRUSTS):

• 1 teaspoon Active Dry Or Instant Yeast 

• 4 cups Whole Wheat Flour 

• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt 

• 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

FOR THE TOPPING:

• Pesto (to taste. I usually use 1/2 small jar)

• 2-3 Roma Tomatoes

• 6-8 oz. Fresh Mozzarella (the shredded stuff works fine too)
• Chicken, cooked (optional)

• Fresh Basil leaves (optional)

Drizzle olive oil on a large baking sheet and use fingers to coat thoroughly. Remove HALF the pizza dough from the bowl. Stretch pizza dough into a large rectangle, pressing with fingers to finish forming. Dough will be very thin.

TO MAKE THE CRUST:

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you need it. 

TO MAKE THE PIZZA:

Preheat oven to 500. 

Lightly drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and use fingers to spread on baking sheet/stone. Spread pesto over the surface of the crust. Thinly slice tomatoes and layer on top of the pesto, then cover with cheese (and basil, if you like).

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Remove from pan and slice with a pizza cutter. Serve immediately! (A little freshly grated parmesan will also kick this up a notch!)