Friday Night Tradition

For a long time (when Tj is home!) we have had a Friday night tradition of pizza night.  We make our own pizzas and I thought we had perfected it and that it couldn't get any better!  But, we have changed the way we do it since we moved to VA.  For some reason I really didn't want to heat up the oven - and the house!  We had dinner at a friend's house before we left FL, and they had made pizza on the grill.  But, they put their pizza on a pan and put it on the grill.  I didn't want to mess with that.  So, we just stuck ours right on the grill.  It only took the first time to figure it out - it was a little messy, and I realized I needed to cut a whole pizza in half and only do half the dough at once.  So, my recipe makes 2 pizza doughs, I roll the dough into 4 balls and make 4 pizzas instead of the two.  It's great because it doesn't heat up the house, and it's even quicker.  I think it takes maybe 5 minutes to do a pizza.  It is so yummy! 

Here is our old post here on pizza night.

This is a deceiving picture, because I'm the one who actually grills the pizza!  I think Tj was just helping put the pepperoni on his.

 My very favorite margaretta pizza with fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella.  SO good!

Friday Night Tradition

It's a tradition in our house that I make pizza every (most) Friday night. I have been making this homemade pizza since middle school - I even read a journal entry from high school saying "mom is going out of town this weekend, so I get to make pizza for dinner - yah!" Yes, I guess I had a sorry personal life - just kidding, I have just always liked to cook! Ok, so I am pretty sure I haven't posted this before, and if I have - oh well. Here is our homemade pizza recipe, enjoy and happy Friday!!

1 TBS yeast 1 cup hot water

1 tsp sugar 1 tsp salt

5 TBS shortening 2 - 2 1/2 cups flour

Now, add the water to your yeast and stir. Add the sugar and salt, stir. Add the shortening (I have found that the butter flavored Crisco makes this crust rock - nice and flaky!). Add your flour. Now, I used to always just use 2 cups flour, however, there is something different about Jacksonville that I have to now add a lot more flour. I don't measure it, so I'm not really sure how much flour to use - just add flour until it's not sticky anymore. Let that dough sit for 15 minutes in a warm place.

Ok, then spread your dough out on your pizza stone (if you don't have a pizza stone...I don't know how you are surviving). Spread Ragu pizza sauce over your dough (TJ insists on Ragu pizza sauce), add your toppings and then your cheese - you must use block cheese you shred on your own, it melts better and tastes better too. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes - the times are always different in every house I have lived in, so you will just have to figure that out on your own too. Also, I have used 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup white flour and the crust still turns out really good. Now please excuse me, we will be enjoying our pizza night.