Pizza Pizza!

Hello hello! My apologies that I haven't posted in a while but I have been quite busy with school. The quarter just started up for me and I'm running around like a chicken without a head but, I managed to still find something to post about which is: pizza! I made this recipe a while ago and I just didn't get the opportunity to post it till now. And besides, it is a perfect time since school did just start. :D I know know, I said no pizza delivery, but this isn't a delivery. Unless you count it as one from your oven. This recipe was made with my friends Juan and David. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
1.) 1 packet of active dry yeast
2.) ~1 tbsp of sugar
3.) 3 cups of all purpose flour (you can use wheat for alternative)
4.) ~1-1.5 cups of hot water (hot as possible from faucet, not boiling hot)
5.) ~2 pinches of salt
6.) pepperoni slices (as much as you want--also you can top with whatever you want)
7.)  ~2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
8.) 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
9.) ~1.5 tbsps of fennel seeds
10.) 3/4 tbsp of oil
11.) 1-2 tbsps of yellow cornmeal
12.) ~1/2 cup of tomato sauce (I used Classico brand spaghetti sauce and it works out delicious)
13.) ~2 tbsps of oregano

Directions:
1.) Place 1 packet of dry yeast in a bowl or container and add hot water. Vigorously stir the yeast in the water. Sprinkle sugar on top and stir. Wait till the yeast starts to "foam." This is called "proofing" yeast where you wake up the yeast and cause it to grow. The warmth of the water gives heat for the microbes to grow while the sugar acts as food. This allows them to multiply and helps bring fluffy goodness to carby baked goods. Keep in mind that if the water is too hot when added to yeast, the yeast will not proof as it has been killed by the heat of the water.

Foamed yeast. Sorry for the over exposure.

2.) Add 3 cups of flour, oil, and salt to a mixing bowl. Once yeast has foamed, add the mixture into the mixing bowl and mix until a dough forms. The dough should be moist enough to not crack, but not moist to where it sticks. If the dough sticks, add a small amount of flour at a time until the dough stops sticking. This can be checked by how much is stuck to the bottom of the bowl.

Once the yeast as foamed, add to flour, salt, and oil.

3.) Collect the dough into a ball and leave in mixing bowl. Cover the mixing bowl with a wet towel and leave the bowl in the warmest place of the house. I left mine on top of my radiator that had been shut off but warm. Leave for it sitting for 30-45 minutes. Once time is up, check on the dough. It should have doubled in size. If not, then at some point, you have murdered the yeast, but still can be eaten regardless. Punch the dough. You should hear a "pop" due to the rapid release of air. Kneed the dough.
4.) Remove the dough from the bowl and flatten with rolling pin. Depending on how thick you want your pizza (I like thin crust), roll out your dough and constantly pull on it to stretch out. Once desired thickness and shape is achieved, slightly roll in the edges to form a crust. On a greased (or sprayed with non-stick), sprinkle cornmeal over the bottom. Place dough inside the tray.

Spread out dough by pulling and with rolling pin.

5.) With a spatula, add tomato sauce over the dough and spread out evenly. Add chopped cilantro, fennel, cheese, and then toppings. Add as much of whatever you please.

Not a big fan of sauce, so we added a thin coat. The added cilantro was delicious.

Add sauce then cheese. Also delicious if you add cheese, then sauce, the cheese again.

6.) Bake in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the edges are golden brown. This should take about 45 minutes to an hour in the oven. Remove from heat and serve.

Before oven.

Fresh out of the oven pizza. :D

Afterthoughts: Came out delicious! Served us three extremely well. I would say this serves about six to eight people. I actually used half the ingredients listed above (for the dough only) because I wanted a thin crust pizza to serve three, but it still came out more than we had thought. The dough was great, the cornmeal was a great texture, and the toppings were delicious. I would like to make this again with pineapple and ham (my favorite) and will post the results later. You're free to top as you please in which I hope you enjoy!

Costs:
1.) Ingredients (i.e. Pepperoni, mozzarella, spices, sauce) = $~3.50
2.) Dough, yeast, spices = ~$1.00
Total Costs: ~$4.50 for a serving of 8 or so