Cheese Pizza

I've been watching a lot of Man Vs. Food lately, which causes me to crave some serious junk food.  I don't understand how they can make a twelve patty burger look so amazing... even to someone who doesn't eat meat very much.   I saw an episode this week for home made pizza and wanted to make it (I've been having these cheese pizza with bread stick cravings).  I have this really really good focaccia bread recipe and wanted to use it for the crust.  I actually made this pizza once before with a recipe, but the sauce was way to salty and the dough was way too thick (and I LOVE thick pizza dough).   So I decided to make up my own sauce and crust.  This was one of the best pizza's I've ever had (and I'm kind of a pizza snob).  

Please make and enjoy and share with others. 

Cheese Pizza
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1 pinch ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup water

2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce: 

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 6 oz can tomato paste

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbs. dried oregano (or to taste)

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. sugar

1/4 cup water

Toppings:

1 block of fresh mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Crust:

Place the 1 cup of warm (115 degrees) into a large mixing bowl.  Add sugar and yeast and let sit for 10 minutes till foamy. (I heard you can skip this step, but I like it... so I do it).  Meanwhile, pour flour, salt, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil, and pepper in a mixing bowl and gently combine.  When yeast is ready, pour water mixture into flour and mix with hands (or a fancy expensive mixer).  Knead with flour for a couple of minutes and place in a bowl with a damp towel over it (I make sure to put a little olive oil in the bowl) and put in sunlight for about 20 minutes. 

After 20 minutes, punch down dough and knead some more, then place outside for another 20 minutes to rise about double in size. Take out of sun and punch down dough.    

Sauce:

In an oiled medium sized pot, add minced garlic and cook until lightly browned.  Add herbs, salt sugar, tomato sauce, and tomato paste.  Add water until desired consistency.  Simmer for about 20 minutes to combine flavors.  

Pizza:

Tear dough in half and roll out two crusts to fit in a 9x13 baking dish.  Place dough in oiled baking pan.  (I didn't do this last night, but I might let it rise for another 10-20 minutes before baking. 

Top dough with slices of fresh mozzarella, then top with sauce (should make 2 pizzas... maybe a little extra depending on how much sauce you like).  Then top with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.  Bake in a 350 oven for about 15-20 minutes. 

Enjoy!! I absolutely LOVE this pizza recipe and can't wait to make it again!