Homemade Pizza

Growing up in Sault Ste. Marie, we had great pizza anytime you wanted. It was always from local restaurants, no chain pizza shops ever lasted very long. When I first moved out, to Ottawa, I remember the desperation my roommate and I (also from the Soo) felt when we were craving good pizza. It always took awhile, but eventually I would find a good pizza restaurant, only in time to move to the next city. In Ottawa, it was Fida's. I don't know if that place is still around, but on most days if you went to pick it up it was 50% off, awesome for University students, and damn good pizza too! When I moved to Montreal I ended up working at one of the best pizza places (and I'm not being biased) - Amelio's - where you have to try the Blanche (or four cheese).

Vancouver has been hit or miss with pizza. We'll find a decent pizza joint, but consistency is hard to come by. Incendio's is definitely on our list, however we find more and more that we prefer to make pizza at home. I used to use the recipe found here , and thought it was the bomb. It is great if you are making pizza and are tight on time. However, my sister recently introduced to me the beauty of a pizza dough that you let rise. You can either let this one rise for an hour and cook right away, or overnight. This dough is the bomb!

Pizza Dough (from The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book)

- 3 cups all-purpose flour (approx)

- 2 tsp quick-rising (instant) dry yeast

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 1/4 cup hot water

- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

In bowl, combine 2 3/4 cups of the flour, yeast and salt. With wooden spoon, gradually stir in water and oil until ragged dough forms, using hands if necessary.

Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface; knead, adding as much of the remaining flour, 1 tbsp at a time, as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. You can use a stand-mixer for this, cutting the kneading time in half. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over; cover with plastic wrap.

If you want to have the pizza today, let rise in warm draft free place until doubled, about 1 hour. If you want to have the pizza tomorrow or another time, let rise in refrigerator for 1 day. You can freeze in large resealable freezer bag for up to 1 month; let thaw and rise in refrigerator overnight.

When you are ready to make your pizza, roll the dough out to fit whatever size pan you are planning on using. I used a cookie sheet for mine. Grease the pan lightly, then place the pizza dough on it. It should feel quite flexible. Crimp the edges to create a bit of a crust. Top and then bake in bottom third of 450 F oven for 20 - 25 minutes.

While I love the quickness of the other pizza dough, I would really recommend trying this one if you have the time. It is so good, crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. I topped mine with artichoke hearts, tomatoes, green olives, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini and feta and mozzarella cheeses. So yummy!!!!