You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six. 

– Yogi Berra

My sister is the mother of two teenage boys.  She was kind enough to write the following post about their pizza nights.

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Pizza night

Pizza night is the perfect meal for a beginning or experienced cook.  You can prepare as much as you want yourself or substitute with store bought ingredients making pizza a fast, easy favourite meal for the whole family.

Homemade Pizza Crust

Makes 2-12”round pizzas

• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 package active dry yeast or (2 ½ tsp)
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

In a large bowl combine the warm water with sugar.  Sprinkle with yeast and let stand 10 minutes.  Stir oil and salt into yeast mixture.  Mix in whole wheat flour and 1 ½ cups all purpose flour.  Gradually add remaining flour stirring until dough forms a ball.  On lightly floured surface knead dough about 5 minutes or until smooth.

Divide dough in half.  Spread each on a greased 12” pizza pan.  Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 30 minutes.  Spread with Pizza Sauce and top each pizza with your favourite ingredients then add 2 cups of shredded cheese.  Bake pizza in a 400 oven for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is bubbling and golden brown.

Don’t have time to make homemade pizza crust?  Try these store bought alternatives:

hamburger or hotdog buns, tortillas, pita bread, bagels, English muffins or whole grain breads

Traditional Pizza toppings:

Be creative make each pizza different.

Traditional toppings include things like pepperoni, bacon, pre-cooked ground beef or sausage, ham, onions, mushrooms, green peppers, olives, sliced tomatoes, hot peppers.

Pizza sauce:

• ½ can tomato paste
• 1tsp oregano
• 1tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tbsp water

Mix all ingredients together.  Spread on prepared pizza crusts.

Instead of making Pizza Sauce substitute with store bought pizza sauce or try using on barbeque sauce, ranch or Italian salad dressing or pasta sauce.

• Let kids make their own individual pizza with their favourite topping
• Make several small pizzas with whole wheat hamburger bun and freeze for a healthy snack
• Be a gourmet cook and top pizza with grilled asparagus and brie cheese or chicken and spinach topped with shredded parmesan.
• Make pizza on tortillas then fold in half to make quesadillas  or roll up to make a pizza wrap
• Double recipe and freeze individual pizzas for a fast weekend meal.