I love making pizza.

I have this magical bread machine that makes the pizza crust for me. It’s so fluffy! I highly recommend getting a bread machine. Even if all you ever use it for is pizza dough, it’s totally worth it.

I do stray a little from the original bread machine’s recommended whole wheat pizza crust recipe. I’ve found that an extra 20 minutes of rising time makes a huuuuuuuuuuge difference in the ease of shaping. And whole wheat pastry flour has consistently turned out softer, crispier crust than regular whole wheat flour.

I also find that scattering cornmeal on my pizza stone is essential. There is nothing worse than a pizza slice that won’t come off the stone. Truly a sad business.

I roll the dough out right on the stone. That way, I know exactly what size to make it, and I don’t have to try to transfer the dough. We all know how **awesome** I am at working dough.

**Ha!!**

Just roll the dough out slightly larger than the stone, and then curl the edge back onto itself.

When it comes to sauce, less is more. You need to make sure it touches all the edges, but too much sauce gives you pizza soup when you take it out of the oven.

I make no judgements on how much cheese you want to use. Cheesiness is a personal choice, and I believe that we should never judge each other’s choices.

I tend to love pizzas that don’t have too much going on. Don’t get me wrong, if it’s pizza, I will like it. But my favorites tend to have only one or two toppings. Bacon and onion; pineapple and Canadian bacon; arugula and prosciutto; just olives.

And whatever you do, do not take your pizza out of the oven before your cheese is bubbly and starting to brown! It’s important.

Pizza and salad. The perfect, simple dinner.

Bacon and Onion Pizza
Makes one medium pizza. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes.

Pizza Crust:
**Every bread machine will probably have different instructions, so be sure to read the directions. The way mine works, it takes about an hour and a half from the time I throw in the ingredients to the time I’m pulling out the dough for an extra rise.

1 1/4 cup of warm water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups bread flour
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in order into the bread machine. Use the “Dough” setting.
When the machine is fully through the cycle, place the dough into a greased bowl and let it sit, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 20 minutes. Then spread some cornmeal onto a pizza stone, and roll the dough onto the pizza stone, draping the dough over the sides of the stone. Curl the edges of the dough back onto itself, pressing gently.

Toppings:
3/4 cups pizza sauce (I made a batch of this sauce, and then pureed it in the food processor)
1 1/2 to 2 cups freshly grated mozzarella
2 strips of bacon, diced
1/4 cup of thinly sliced onion

Preheat the oven to 400F. Assemble your pizza, in ingredient order, onto the uncooked pizza dough. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is crispy and browning. Slice with scissors or a pizza cutter, and serve hot.