Like many people, I love pizza.  So long as it's tasty and doesn't have broccoli on it (LOL) I'm in heaven.  What I'm NOT in heaven about is how HORRIBLE the vast majority of pizzaria places make it.  And let's face it--"pizzaria" is only very loosely applied to most pizza places--what they make isn't anything like what one would find in an actual Italian pizzaria.

For quite some time, I've been looking for a way to make pizza at home, entirely from scratch--right from the crust.  The crust recipe has been the stumbling block, because I don't want to have to spend half my day making the crust, and it had to be a recipe with ingredients that I could actually find!

Then it finally happened!  I found an easy recipe which yields enough pizza to make 2 large thin-crust pizzas, or 8-10 small thin-crust pizzas, which is what I wanted.  Even better, it made small dough balls which would freeze, individually wrapped, and just needed to be thawed out in the fridge overnight and warmed to room temp before it is ready to be rolled out.  So basically get home from work, set it out (covered) on the counter while you change and make a tea or whatever you do every day, and then it's ready!

The REALLY cool thing is that you don't need to pre-bake the crust--just pile on the toppings on the raw crust!

So this is what I did:

I made the clean crust (make sure to allow time for rising per the recipe).  The pic to the right is the recipe divided into single-serving balls.

Be sure to properly flour your rolling surface, otherwise that raw crust is going nowhere after you roll it out!

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Carefully lift the crust, and place it onto whatever sheet you're going to use to bake it on.  Then, add all the toppings you like.  I used leftover roasted onions, red and yellow peppers, mushrooms, a bit of mozzarella, and some goat cheese.  For the sauce I just used tomato paste (less is more--remember it's condensed) with a sprinkle of oregano and basil, and fresh-ground black pepper.

Then into the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes, and voila!  Magnifico!

There's water, there's water with bubbles, there's Vitamin Water (check out here for the truth about Vitamin Water), and then there's real vitamin water with real vitamins!!  And guess what?  Making it for yourself is not only MUCH healthier, but MUCH CHEAPER TOO!!

If it's winter when you read this, frozen fruits work well, plus oranges are in season in the winter in most places.  In the summer there are a TONNE of options!  Anything really--in addition to the above, maybe try cucumber lime, peach and strawberry, pomegranate, blueberry lemon...  Go for it!  Be brave!

The Eat Clean Diet is having a great contest!

They're currently engaged in a Fresh Start for Spring Campaign, and the first step is to clean up your shopping carts, pantry and fridge!

Click on Reclaim Your Cart! for the full details, and to enter.  All you have to do, is take a pic of your clean, healthy cart, pantry or fridge, and send it in!

To get you started, here's a pic of my cupboard as it appears at this moment:

  The contest has inspired me to create the same order in my fridge.  My fridge is VERY full each weekend after my trip to the farmer's market, and I find that I sometimes forget what's in there until the following weekend, when unfortunately sometimes it's not good anymore.  I really dislike wasting food, and I think putting most of the stuff in clear containers (if I see it, I'll want to eat it!) will make a big difference.  Stay tuned for that pic!!