HomeMade Pizza

We love pizza!  We used to order pizza from a nearby pizza place quite often.  That was until Madison made her first homemade pizza!  Madison spoiled us with her culinary creations before she left for college - we weren't quite sure how we would get along without her!  It seems like just last week I was crying my eyes out heading west on I-16 after leaving my only baby alone in a strange city for her first year of college!  Now she's gearing up for finals week and saying goodbye to her Freshman year!
She survived! and, more importantly, so did I

Madison always used Bridgford Ready Dough for her homemade pizza, and it is a very good choice for the dough! Easy to use and very tasty!

Publix carries it in the freezer case

For this recipe I used the the Homemade French Bread.

This is the first time I used this dough to make pizza, and we liked it a lot.  I did not use a breadmaker - I made the dough by hand. After punching down, I spread the dough out on a large pizza pan.  Then I set it aside to rise. I like a thick crust, so I let this rise a couple hours to get it nice and puffy. You can let it rise until it looks good for your tastes.  Here is what mine looked like after rising a couple hours

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. When the dough is nice and puffy, poke some holes in the center of it with a fork. I try to leave the edges nice and puffy, so I don't attack them with the fork! Now you want to mince up some garlic in a small bowl and pour some olive oil over it - about a tablespoon will do - whatever looks good! Use the back of a spoon to crush the garlic a bit, and then gently brush the garlic olive oil all over the pizza!  Then put it in the oven for about 10 minutes. You just want to get it lightly browned.

Once your pizza is a little toasty you are ready to top it as you like. Here's what I did...

While the dough was toasting in the oven, I sauteed some fresh baby spinach in garlic and olive oil.  I used about 1-2 teaspoons olive oil with a clove of garlic (sliced). When that was warmed, I added a 10 oz bag of baby spinach and sauteed until it just started to wilt. It doesn't take long. I also sliced up some fresh plum tomates and set them aside until ready to top the pizza.

I topped the pizza with about 6 slices of Mozzarella first. Then I added the spinach and tomatoes. After that, I topped with about a cup of shredded Mozzarella and some shaved Parmesan cheese.

Now that my pizza is topped just the way I want it, I put it back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes. Take the pizza out of the oven when the cheese is melted and the crust is nicely browned.  Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing! ENJOY!