Bowden Life 101: Homemade Pizza

Papa, who? Seriously, who needs Papa John's when you can have a fun evening with your spouse making your own homemade pizza with whatever toppings you'd like?!? The last couple days, I'd been feeling a bit under the weather with not much of an appetite, so yesterday afternoon when the hunger hit it hit hard!! I was craving pizza! In fact, the idea occurred to me as I was picking up the ingredients at the grocery store how much I'd love an outdoor brick pizza oven one day! Ahhhh, pause for a quick daydream....Okay back to reality.

Making homemade pizza is actually a little tradition of mine and Dylan's that originated back when we were first dating. In your early-mid-late twenties, if you're trying to get away from the going out scene and save some "dough"~pun intented~then a meal like this is really great! Its a fun way to spend time in the kitchen with your man {or your best girlfriend or whoever is special to you} and bond through the prepping and cooking! It takes two, baby.

Use whatever ingredients your hearts desire. Admission: this is a ~~sneaky~~ huge way I can get my husband to eat more veggies so I throw in as many veggie topping options as possible. A little Sinatra playing on our vinyl record player in the background, two glasses of cabernet, and away we go preparing our pizza!! Not quite sure who has more fun with this meal, me or Dylan? Or if its the memories it brings back from when we first made this together when we were dating and both had such butterflies in our stomach, we didn't think we could eat a thing! Sure enough, though, it worked then and it's still fabulous now! This is a meal to laugh through, chat through, sip wine through. To savor the smells in the kitchen and enjoy each other's company. Without further delay, here's how we roll...

1. Get all ingredients on your counter from the toppings to the ingredients for the dough.
Tip: Remember you eat with your eyes first so the more vibrant and colorful the toppings, the better!

Our ingredients up close and personal

Mild Sausage {or hot whichev you prefer} cooked in a skillet and crumbled.
Dylan handled this part!

This brand is just as good to me as a homemade pizza sauce. Classico in a jar!

My favorite, the star of my half of the pizza, Vigo Marinated Artichoke Hearts. These are even great in pasta
dishes or in a green salad with some kalamata olives and crumbled feta.

Our Spices: Dried basil, pizza seasoning, Herb de Provence, thyme, rosemary, and italian seasoning

2. Start working on your dough. We bought Martha White Pizza Crust mix but feel free to make the crust entirely from scratch! I got Dylan started then he took over like a Master Chef!

Add hot water to the mix according to the package.

Stir stir stir!!

I knead the dough until its a more cohesive mixture.

Form it into a ball, drizzle with olive oil, and cover with cling. Let the dough rest for at least 5 mins.

Husband takes over! Flour on the board, get rid of the cling wrap and cover the rolling pin
with a little dusting of flour so the dough won't stick to it. He knows what he's doing!!

Roll away to spread out the dough into a circle.

He then placed the dough on a pizza pan and pricked it all around with a fork to keep the dough from rising and ballooning up in the oven. Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 475 for 5 mins on the bottom rack. This is just enough time to brown the top of the crust so you are ready to add toppings before cooking it all. {These directions are on the Mary White package as well}

3. While Dylan worked on the dough, I chopped all our veggies and got em ready for decorating the pizza!

Interruption picture! Here, our lovely music for the evening...Sinatra on vinyl. Perfection!

Back to it! How cool is this bamboo cutting board with these cups that sit in it! Ideal for this type of meal when you want to choose which ingredients to add to personalize your meal the way you see fit. Also, great for serving food that require dipping sauces or spreads on the side...easy access all on one board.

4. Decorate your pizza! This is the super fun part! Take out the crust that's been in the oven for 5 mins and go to work!