When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore

This post is not about love. Well, it kinda is, because I love pizza. And that's what this post is about.

We make homemade pizza about four times a month. I have a fantastic dough recipe that is actually really easy to make. I was talking to my mom tonight on the phone as I made the sauce, and she asked for the dough recipe. Because I was going to compile, I thought I'd share it with you all.

I got this recipe from a girl at a book club and found the honey addition online, so I can't claim any of the recipe as my own.

1 pkg. dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp olive oil (a bit more for bowl)

2-1/2 to 3-1/2 cups flour

2 Tbs honey (Yes, honey. It honestly is the best part of the dough.)

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixing bowl.

2. Add salt, olive oil, honey, and 2-1/2 cups flour. Mix at speed 1 for about one minute.

3. At speed 2, add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time.

4. Mix for about two minutes or until dough clings to hook and cleans side of the bowl (this is the trickiest part to master, but regardless of the texture the dough still tastes dang good).

5. Mix on speed 2 for about two minutes longer (if it's too dry, add a bit of water).

6. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about an hour or until doubled in bulk.

7. Punch down dough.

8. Place on pizza pan. Roll out and for edge (I just pound and moosh the dough until it covers the pan, and I don't even attempt edges any more).

9. Put sauce and toppings on pizza. Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes.

That's it! It's a bit labor-intensive, but the dough is fantastic and worth it if you love homemade pizza.

You can use whatever sauce, but I like to make my own sauce and let it simmer as the dough rises. You can use tomato sauce, but I puree canned tomato chunks because it tastes richer (though you usually have to thicken it with corn starch). For sauce I add the following to taste:

1. Dried basil (mmmm, fresh basil is so tasty, especially as a topping)

2. Dried oregano

3. Refrigerated garlic

4. Onion powder

5. Ground pepper (I do freshly ground)

6. A few pinches of brown sugar

I add all the ingredients until I think it tastes yummy, then I just let it simmer on low. The major plus is your house starts smelling like pizza long before it's ready to cook. Yum.

Another tip is we always keep frozen Italian sausage (low fat = less grease) in the freezer for the days we randomly decide to make pizza (seriously, I make it a lot). We like to use turkey pepperoni (again, less grease); a grocery store-size bag of turkey pepperoni can be divided in half, which is about the perfect amount for pizza, and then frozen. I also buy bulk shredded mozzarella (Costco had a 5 lb bag--perfect!) and put about 2 cups' worth into individual freezer bags.

For the frozen pizza toppings, they can either be thawed in the fridge in the morning or on the counter in the afternoon. Italian sausage can be cooked frozen, which is wonderful.

So there are my hints for homemade pizza. Again, it's a bit labor intensive, especially as you figure out how to perfect the dough, but my goodness it's good. Easy hints: freeze as many ingredients as possible and buy them in bulk and when on sale, and make your sauce as the dough rises. Also, for Mother's Day this year Todd got me a pizza stone (I told you we make a lot of pizza); those are fantastic and truly do make a difference.