Pizza can be a surprisingly touchy topic - thin crust, thick crust, deep dish, red, white, one cheese, three-cheese, yes vegetables, no vegetables, which vegetables... you get the idea!

My ideal pizza is thin, crunchy crust, some cheese, but not too much, and lots of thinly sliced vegetables.


I've finally perfected the recipe and I'm excited to share it with you. I tweaked several recipes to get the thin, crunchy crust and I'm sharing my favorite toppings, but you can definitely use your favorites with the same crust.

Preheat your oven to 500F. Yes, that's hot. You've never baked anything that hot before? Never mind, do it anyway.

Put the warm water and yeast in a small bowl. The yeast does not need to fully dissolve, nor does the mixture need to bubble like it does for bread.

Pour the flour and salt into a bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and the olive oil. Mix with a whisk, spoon, or your hands, until combined. Knead dough for 3-4 minutes. If it feels slightly sticky, flour your hands to make the kneading easier.

Divide dough into 2 balls, cover with a damp cloth and set it aside to rest for about 10 minutes. If you prefer a thicker crust, or if your pan is very large, you may want to use all the dough for one pie. If you want to go really, really thin, divide the dough into 4.

While the dough is resting, you can prepare your toppings. My favorites are thinly sliced red pepper, purple onion, olives, mushrooms and yes, pineapple. But you can use any, or even leave the pizza plain if you prefer... (scandalous, in my opinion!)


Roll out the first ball into a 12-inch circle. Carefully transfer dough to a pizza pan. If you don't have a pizza pan, you can use a regular baking sheet. Do not use a disposable foil pan.


Spread 1/4 cup of sauce over the dough, and put the pizza in the oven for 3-4 minutes.


Take the pizza out, cover with 1-2 cups shredded cheese and the toppings of your choice. If you like your pizza very cheesy, you'll probably need more cheese than I used.


Return pizza to the oven for another 8-10 minutes (until cheese is bubbling).


Remove, let cool 5 minutes, cut into slices and serve immediately. YUM!

Repeat with the remaining dough. Alternatively, you can freeze the extra dough so next time you just need to pull a piece of dough out of the freezer. Or, you could roll out the dough, spread the sauce and bake the crusts, then freeze so that next time you just need to pull out the crust, add the cheese and toppings and bake. It's up to you.


The holiday of Shavuot is coming, when it's traditional to eat dairy food. A pizza bar could be a fun addition to your holiday menu. Make individual sized crusts, pre-baked as per the recipe. Set out all kinds of toppings and let your family and guests build their own pizza. Within minutes, voila! You have a fresh, tasty meal. Serve with a big salad, and maybe a salmon entree.

Note: The laws of cooking on festivals are complex, so I recommend checking out this detailed guide first.

Dough Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1 tsp. dry yeast
  • 3 1/2 - 4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil

Toppings:

  • 1 cup tomato sauce (1/4-1/2 cup per pizza)
  • 4 cups shredded cheese (1-2 cups per pizza)
  • Mushrooms, sliced
  • Peppers, thinly sliced
  • Purple onion, thinly sliced
  • Olives, sliced
  • Pineapple, in chunks

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 500F.
  2. Put the water and yeast in a small bowl. (Mixture does not need to bubble.)
  3. Mix all ingredients until combined. Knead for 3-4 minutes. If dough feels sticky, flour your hands to make it easier to knead.
  4. Divide dough into 4 balls, cover with a damp cloth and set it aside to rest for about 10 minutes.
  5. Roll out the first ball into a 12-inch circle. Carefully transfer dough to a pizza pan. (If you don't have a pizza pan, you can use a regular baking sheet.)
  6. Spread 1/4 cup (or more, if you prefer) of sauce over the dough, and put the pizza in the oven for 3-4 minutes.
  7. Take the pizza out, cover with 1-2 cups shredded cheese and the toppings of your choice.
  8. Return pizza to the oven for another 8-10minutes (until cheese is bubbling).
  9. Remove, let cool 5 minutes, cut into slices and serve immediately.

So... what's your favorite kind of pizza? Let us know in the comments.