Quick and Easy Thin Crust Pizza

There is nothing my family loves more than pizza night! Not take out pizza of course, but light and crispy thin crust homemade pizza. My mouth is watering as I'm typing this.

It always amazes me that so few people make their own pizza because as far as I'm concerned it's quick, easy and extremely economical. I can make enough thin crust pizzas to generously feed 8 people for less than $10. I don't care what kind of take out you get, you can't beat that price. I bet if I started making my pizza when you pick up the phone to order take out, we'd both be eating at the same time...and I don't have to leave a tip! Plus, I won't have a pizza box to throw out at the end of the night.

My dream has always been to have a brick pizza/ bread oven. I'm still trying to figure out if I can turn my indoor wood burning fireplace into one LOL! So if any of you know if it's possible, shoot me an e-mail...I'd be eternally grateful!!!!! For the time being, I have to make do with what I have. Here's how I make my pizza.

I start out with "Our Daily Bread Recipe" http://marthakindof.blogspot.com/2011/05/our-daily-bread.html which of course only takes minutes to prep and is ready and waiting for me in my fridge when I decide I want to make pizza. I cut off a piece large enough to make the desired amount of pizzas and let it come to room temperature in a covered bowl in my oven with the light on. Then I cut off enough dough to roll out one pizza and sprinkle flour on my counter. I roll it out until it fairly thin, then pick it up and give it a little stretch...just to get it as thin as possible. Repeat until you've rolled out as many pizzas as needed.

Preheat the oven to 550 degrees...or as hot as your oven goes.

Now to make the sauce, simply take a large can of (or jar if your lucky enough to have homemade)  tomatoes and toss in 3 cloves of garlic, olive oil and a little salt and some fresh oregano into a blender. Give it a whiz for a few seconds until it's smooth.

To assemble your pizza, place the crust on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place a generous amount of sauce on the crust (it will evaporate in the high heat) and artfully place the rest of the ingredients on your pizza and top off with cheese. My fave right now is eggplant, onion, green and red pepper topped with a little asiago cheese. Yum! In the picture seen here, I was lucky enough to find asiago cheese with rosemary and olive oil. A large wedge was only $4 http://www.traderjoes.com/  and I used less than half of it.

Pop it in the oven for about 10 minutes or until it's brown, crispy and bubbly. Remove from the oven and immediately place on a cooling rack...this will keep it crisp. Enjoy. I know this will become a favorite with your family too!

Great pizza toppings:

Bacon, ricotta, spinach and mushrooms

Artichoke hearts, garlic, and jalapeños

Carmelized onions, thinly sliced salami, arugula, and tiny grape tomatoes

Spinach, chicken and garlic

Sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, fresh mozzarella and olive tapenade

Figs, artichoke hearts, fennel , prosciutto, Gorgonzola cheese and a drizzle of olive oil