From scratch! Dough and everything.
The recipe that I used is adapted from Once Upon A Chef.
Ingredients:
Per 2 small pizzas.
For the dough:
- 1 cup warm water (I microwaved for ~20 seconds)
- 2.25 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 cups all purpose flour, plus some extra for kneading
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1.75 teaspoons salt
- Cornmeal, for dusting the pan before baking (substitute with flour, if needed).
For each pizza:
- 1/4 cup marinara or pizza sauce (I use the Trader Joe’s brand pizza sauce)
- 2 tablespoons pesto
- handful of mozzarella cheese (I used vegan Daiya’s Plant Based Mozzarella Shreds due to lactose intolerance)
- handful of sliced peppers/onions, or other toppings of choice.
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano flakes
Instructions:
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Make the pizza dough! In a small mixing bowl, combine the water and yeast. Cover with a cloth and let the yeast activate for ~10 minutes until the solution is frothy.
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Add the flour, oil, and salt. Mix and knead to combine in the bowl.
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Lightly flour a clean surface and continue kneading there for a few minutes until the dough is smooth (no wrinkles). Shape into a ball.
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Lightly grease a small mixing bowl and transfer the dough over there. Flip the dough so that the entire dough is covered lightly in oil. Cover the mixing bowl with a cloth and let it rise in a warm area for 1-1.5 hours. For the warm area, you can put it by a window if it’s sunny out. Alternatively, you can preheat the oven to 200 degrees, turn it off once it preheats, put the mixing bowl with the dough in there, and leave the oven door slightly open. You can also just leave it in the oven with the oven light on.
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Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
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After the dough has risen, deflate it and reshape into a ball. Divide it into two equal parts, placing one part on the lightly floured surface and the other back in the covered bowl.
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Working with the first dough part, roll it out into your desired shape (I picked a rectangle) using your hands.
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Place some parchment paper over a baking sheet and dust the top of the parchment paper lightly with flour or cornmeal.
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Transfer the rolled out pizza dough to the baking sheet. Spread your pizza sauce and pesto over the dough, leaving some space on the edges.
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Place the baking sheet in the oven for ~6 minutes until the dough is partially cooked.
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Add the cheese and toppings to the top of your pizza, and return to the oven for ~6 minutes until the dough is fully cooked and the cheese has melted.
- Sprinkle the Italian seasoning and oregano over the hot pizza and wait for it to cool for a minute or two before slicing and serving.
