Given the title of this website, it should be no surprise that SIMPLE food is what excites me most. And there’s a good reason for this – when you cook with just a handful of fresh, high-quality ingredients that compliment each other, you create magic on the plate. It may seem totally counterintuitive, but using simpler ingredients often gives your dishes more complex and layered flavors. Take this pizza, for example. We’re making a very simple homemade crust and topping it with just four simple ingredients (olive oil, garlic, red onion, and rosemary). This way, the unique characteristics of each ingredient can seep into the fresh crust for the perfect balance in every bite. For this particular pizza, something like a bold tomato sauce or veggie sausage would have only overpowered the authentic, nuanced flavors of the garlic and herbs.
Now, I know this pizza is a bit naughty by my standards (it has olive oil and white flour), but sometimes you just need some crusty bread with olive oil, right? It’s an occasional treat that makes an amazing Saturday evening project for the whole family. Give this a shot – one bite and you’ll think you died and woke up in Italy’s version of heaven.
Makes 6 small pizzas
Ingredients:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1/2 red onion
Step One
This pizza dough is adapted from Bobby Flay’s Recipe on Food Network and it’s super easy to make. In a stand mixer (you can also do it by hand), combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast and mix until incorporated. Then, add about 1 1/2 cups of warm water that is between 110 and 140º F along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Allow this to mix until it forms a solid ball. If the dough is too sticky, add an extra tablespoon of flour; too crumbly, add a tablespoon of water.
Step Two
On a lightly-floured surface, knead this dough into one perfectly round ball, ensuring that the outside is dusted with a light layer of flour. Then, add to a large bowl, cover, and allow to rise for 1 hour or more until it doubles in size.
Step Three
Crank up the oven to 420º F. Then, separate the large ball of dough into 5-6 smaller balls. Using a rolling pin and/or your hands, roll each into a thin disc. Brush the surface with about 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and top with sliced red onion, slivered garlic, and rosemary (see above). Add the pizzas to the hot oven on a pizza stone or baking sheet and cook for about 20-25 minutes, until the edges of the crust start to turn golden brown.
I highly recommend using a pizza stone over a typical baking sheet. This allows the pizza to cook evenly and develop a gorgeous crispy crust. You can find one at a discount home store for less than the price of one pizza and it’s a worthwhile investment.
You make this look so easy to make!!! And purposely post these posts around lunch time. Do you deliver?
Haha. Just call 1-800-ONE-INGREDIENT anywhere in the U.S. for free delivery within 15 minutes! 😀
This pizza looks so delicious!!
Looks so beautiful! Great Bobby Flay recipe that you made look so elegant! I love rosemary so much..one of my favorite herbs.
This recipe is fantastic! I added some extra veggies on top and mixed a little rosemary and sage from my garden into the crust. My 12-year-old son can’t stop talking about how much he likes it! We’ve had a different one of your recipes for dinner almost every night for the past 2 weeks and so far each one has been a hit. Thank you!!
Awesome! That’s great to hear, Karen. I’m glad you guys liked it as much as I did, and I love the idea of adding the herbs right into the crust!
Best homemade dough ever, and I do not have luck with yeast but this came out perfect, not sure if I will ever buy pizza again, what do you think about a whole wheat recipe? I’m not crazy about the white flour.
Yes! That’s so great to hear, Rebecca. I think whole wheat would work just about identical to the white flour… I just decided to be naughty this time :p
Ugh, you are amazing! Can you come cook at my house? 😀
Anytime! 😀
I forgot to tell you that I made this and it was amazing! 😀 Later on down the track I also made it again but added sliced red onion, thinly sliced white peaches & pumpkin bits. No idea why I added peaches but they were sooooo yummy baked on top of a pizza! I wish I had peaches to make this again =/ lol.
Peach Pizza = Brilliant. Haha, I’m so glad to hear that you liked it, Toni!! 🙂
So delicious! I absolutely love this blog!
Thank you, Cody!! I’m so glad you like my crazy little blog 🙂
It’s probably my favorite blog! I check it constantly! Keep up the great work!
OMG NOM this looks amazing!
I’m thinking of making some and bringing them to my CSA cut up in wedges for the folks to enjoy. Am also thinking of making one batch whole wheat and another batch white flour to see how that goes. If I’m feeling super energetic maybe I’ll try another half ww and half wf.
Three questions:
1: Can these sit out (covered of course) on the counter for a few days?
2: Can you knead them with the stand mixer?
3: What do you think of this dough as a topper for the pot pies you recently put up? I’m probably going to make those too, and I know this isn’t pie crust but might be also yummy but with no coconut oil.
Hi Bett!
1. I have no idea, really. I could imagine they would become quite stale but otherwise I couldn’t say for sure.
2. Probably. I’ve only done it by hand, but a stand mixer should work just as well.
3. Well, they’re quite similar. But that crust is a bit easier to make and doesn’t rely on yeast. It’s probably a better fit for a pot pie, but either way.
I’m surprised that you think they’d stale within a few days. I’m curious to know how long have you been able to keep them for, and how did you keep them? I was more worried about the possibility of spoilage due to the vegetable content. Of course, keeping bread in the fridge really does stale bread more quickly. That effect is happily reversible with heat, but these are things I’d love to just have there to grab as a quick snack without having to toast or heat.
I know what you mean about the other crust, but I’m trying to use way less coconut oil as it is a saturated fat. Have you tried it with olive oil or a healthier fat?
Yummy! I make this with Whole wheat lavash bread and it is supper yummy!