R.I.P. (or “rest in PIZZA”) With “Heart-y” blood sauce

Each year the 4th grade does a “gross grub” luncheon instead of a Halloween Party… no sweets allowed.  So Tristan and I decided last week what our plans would be and signed up to bring this goody in.  Apparently most of his friends are pretty jealous of Tristan’s pizza lunches when he brings them in and so we thought this would be fun to add to the grub table with a Chicago style cut for everyone to enjoy.  I added the pepperoni to this after it was baked but still hot so the pepperoni would stay in place to spell RIP.

Friday night pizza with a movie started out many years ago at our house now as a cost cutter.  We wanted a break, wanted some fun, so did our kids but we were also feeling tired after a long week working and most important was the fact that we were tight on money so going out let alone paying for a babysitter was not possible.  Also, it was something for the kids and I to look forward to as they got older and for all of us when Rick was working Friday nights.  The menu for one night a week is a no brainer; nice for me, and we NEVER seem to get tired of eating pizza.  Pizza is cheap to make and fun to eat.  That’s that!  Plus if you’re feeling lazy or rich you can order out or pick up a pizza or even buy frozen and heat it up.  Pizza is pretty easy to come by.

So pizza making every Friday night which is about 104 of the pies a year (more now) has added up to virtually THOUSANDS of pizzas coming out of my oven over the years.  I’ve been making two every Friday and now sometimes I make three pizzas to have a few leftover pieces for lunches to stick in the freezer for a later date and also to satisfy some growing appetites.  In that time, nearly 1 1/2 decades, I’ve tried many different pizza crusts but this is the recipe I always fall back on now.  It’s easy to handle and is tasty as well.

Crusty Pizza Dough  (makes 2 crusts)
4 1/2 tsp. yeast (or two packages if you purchase it in the pouches), 2 cups warm water, 1 tsp. salt, 4 tsp. olive oil,  6 c. flour, cornmeal
Directions:
Add yeast to 2 cups warm water.  Let sit for 5 minutes if you have time; long enough for it to dissolve and begin to bubble.  Add salt, olive oil and flour to the yeast mixture.  Mix with dough hook until kneaded.  Divide dough in half and with cornmeal roll out into a circle to fit the pan forming a collar around the edge of the pan with your fingers.  Place on sprayed or lightly oiled pans.  You can let these unbaked crusts sit covered to rise for up to an hour if you need/want or you can immediately dress your pizzas.  It works well either way but works better with letting rise with certain pizza pans.  Add toppings as desired and bake at 450 for 14-15 minutes.
Pizza Sauce  (the BEST sauce)
I make my own pizza sauce.  At one point I was buying a huge can of pizza sauce, splitting it at home and freezing it because this made a small difference in my budget.  Sometimes it was a pain to remember to defrost the sauce in time though.  I don’t know how much it costs in the stores anymore because it’s been years since I’ve purchased any.  One time I discovered I was OUT of sauce and had absolutely no money to buy any.  (I’m rather strict with my budget because I have to be and if it’s not there it’s not there).  Not wanting anyone to be disappointed I came up with my own sauce after reading through some old classic cook books using basic ingredients I did have on hand in my pantry.  The next week I doctored it up based on my previous experience with it and I now consider it perfected.  We prefer this sauce over any we’ve purchased and it is way less expensive than store bought canned sauce.
Incidentally an improvement to this sauce came in the form of home canned tomato sauce this year.  I made 14 jars of it; enough for 28 pizzas and it is SO GOOD!!!  But store bought canned tomato sauce works fine.
Directions:
Olive oil, 8 oz. tomato sauce per pizza, 1 tsp. minced garlic or 1 clove garlic per pizza, pepper, parmesan cheese, oregano
Brush each pizza crust thinly with olive oil.  Stir 1 clove/1 tsp. garlic into each 8 oz. can of tomato sauce.  Spread garlic tomato sauce over oiled pizza crust.  Sprinkle pepper over tomato sauce.  Lightly sprinkle with parmesan cheese and then sprinkle oregano over the parmesan.  Dress with Mozzarella or a mozzarella/provolone blend.  Add desired toppings; pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, black olives or whatever else you like.  Bake as directed above in the recipe for the crust.
(In a pinch you can use garlic powder or dried minced garlic to = 1 clove.  Tomato paste can also be played around with to make pizza sauce but the above really works well and is our favorite). 
ENJOY!