Homemade pizza from the Finger Lakes

There has been something nagging at me for a while. The need, yes need, to make something with yeast in it. I can’t explain it. Wouldn’t even attempt to try. All I can say is that I bought a big package of yeast and I intended to use it (at some point). The only problem was the when, and what. If you are a baker of any type, you probably realize the hours that generally go into making a treat made with yeast. Mind you, the end results are (usually) worth every bit of the precious time you spent covering your kitchen in flour and waiting for the dough to rise.

So, with this nagging feeling, something extraordinary happened. The story begins… I picked up my mail yesterday and my fall edition of Life In the Finger Lakes magazine was sitting there waiting for me. Yea!!! I probably haven’t told you, but this is one of my favorite magazines because I live in the heart of the Finger Lakes. There are always beautiful photo’s, great stories, and yes, recipes!

You see where this is going – don’t you? Here was the answer to my nagging feeling, and to that nagging question I get all the time. What’s for supper? In this issue there was a recipe for homemade pizza dough and sauce. Finally, I was going to use that yeast. With simple ingredients, and a short time later, I had created our dinner. And I have got to tell you this is the easiest pizza dough recipe I have ever made. I really liked the crust that resulted from it (even though I used all-purpose flour, not the bread flour the recipe suggested.) The dough only had to rise for 30 minutes. Can you believe it? Just 30 minutes!

I also made the sauce featured in the article (which turned out great) but since I didn’t have tomato paste on hand ( I know you’re thinking what kind of cook doesn’t have something as simple as tomato paste on hand?) I used more tomatoes and cooked the sauce longer, plus added a few dashes of Italian seasoning to it.

Now, instead of me continuing to ramble on, I’m just going to share the article , which includes the recipes with you.

There is nothing like a hot, fresh slice (or two) of pizza on a cool (almost autumn) night in the Finger Lakes, or wherever you live. Delicioso!