Ask Jen about how her mom’s homemade pizza brings her family together

I’m a pepperoni and mushrooms kind of gal. Wait. Onion, green pepper and banana peppers. No! Pepperoni, bacon and onion. Ugh. So many choices needs such a bigger stomach!

My niece, Violet, is 2 ½. She’s my favorite little girl in the history of ever. She’s girly, she’s beautiful and she loves giving ‘big squeeze’ hugs (which makes for an extremely happy ‘Aunt Nen’). My mom watches her during the day and the question every afternoon is, “what do you want for lunch?” The answer is always the same. Every. Single. Day.

Pizza.

Bless her tiny little soul. “No, Violet, you can’t eat pizza every day. How about something else?” says Grandma . . . every single day.

Not too long ago, Violet’s parents attended an out-of-town wedding, so Grandma and Papa got to keep Violet and her brother, Nolan, overnight. Pizza for dinner! But not just any pizza: Grandma’s homemade pizza with vegetables from the garden!

When I heard the rumor (thanks, dad) that mom was making pizza, I quickly found an excuse to make sure I was there for dinner.

Grandma, a.k.a., my mom, does her fair share of ordering delivery pizza, but when she has the time and audience, her homemade pizza is to die for. It’s her crust.

he kids helped her make it this time, so it may not have been as pretty as we’re used to seeing, but the taste was there, the kids loved it, and that’s all that mattered.

Go make something awesome,
Aunt Nen

Mom’s homemade Pizza Crust

• 1/2 cup warm (not hot, about 100°) water
• 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast (heaping)
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 to 1-1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Additional flour for rolling dough

1. Stir together a 1/4 cup water, yeast, sugar, salt and a teaspoon of the flour. Make sure your yeast isn’t too old.
2. Blend together the yeast mixture, 1 cup of the flour, and the remaining 1/4 cup water. Beat 2 minutes by hand. You want the dough to be smooth, soft and sticky. If necessary, work in a little more flour until dough is somewhat sticky, soft and very elastic. Knead for 5 minutes.
3. Oil a medium bowl, and place the dough inside, sealing it with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature so that it nearly triples, about 2 hours. Twenty minutes before baking, punch it down, knead another minute, and form it into a ball. Cover it with a towel and set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 500° and set the rack as low as possible. Roll the dough out on a floured surface. Set on an oiled pizza pan and let it rest 10 minutes. Top the pizza however you want, but don’t overload it.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, then slip the pizza off the pan directly onto the oven rack. Bake another 2 to 3 minutes. Carefully slide the pizza back on the pan and serve.