Pizza and a Lovely Trip!

Hello all! Oh, how I've missed you! I'm sorry I've been so MIA on here, but it's been an interesting time...thank you for bearing with me. Since my last post, I've received some exciting news - I have been accepted to the International Culinary Center's Italian Culinary Experience program! As many of you know, I have dreams of owning my own restaurant and absolutely LOVE to cook any and everything - this program will allow me to study in New York City, then Parma, Italy, for 4-5 months towards the end of this year. I'm so excited!!! As a result, I will be taking a break from the usual set-up of the posts on this blog, and will be sharing my journey with you all (as well as new recipes and tips that I learn along the way).

Although I made this recipe before I received the news, I decided to make pizza from scratch for the first time last week. I was amazed to find out that pizza is actually ridiculously easy to make, and now I have enough dough leftover to make 3 more personal pizzas! This dough freezes brilliantly, and I love that because now I can have a scratch-made pizza in about 20 minutes after letting the dough thaw out; this is perfect for weeknight meals, especially for students. My only warning? It does take some time to make the initial batch of dough, so I'd advise doing it on a weekend morning, then portioning and freezing the dough for later meals throughout the next couple of weeks.

Pizza dough
(I was able to get 6 personal pizzas' worth, but the servings depend on the size of the portions you make.)

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp. sea salt (regular salt also works fine)
1 packet of instant yeast
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup of warm water

1.) Mix the first three ingredients in a large mixing bowl, until they are combined.

2.) Add the water and olive oil, then mix to form the dough. Then, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, then knead until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. This takes a little elbow grease, but it will come together.

3.) Add some olive oil to a large bowl, then toss the dough in the oil to coat. Allow the dough to rise for about 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen (warm room? 1 hour should be fine. Not so warm? Let it rise for longer.) The goal here is for the dough to double in size.

4.) Once the dough has risen, punch it down a little bit then turn it onto a floured surface and knead it a little more. At this point, you can portion the dough and freeze or refrigerate it.

5.) Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Make sure the dough has had time to thaw completely before using it (if you choose to freeze it).

6.) Place some olive oil on a baking sheet, then stretch the dough to form a disk and place on the sheet. Add the toppings of your choice.

7.) Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the dough is lightly golden brown on the edges. Let it rest for about 5 minutes on a plate before you cut into it, then enjoy!

I hope you guys try this recipe, and let me know how it turns out!

P.S. I've been going on a natural kick lately - I've turned to using natural olive oil soap on my face, and recently got another natural soap that I love so far. Today, I'm proud to say that I made lip balm for the first time, and I'm calling it my honey double butter balm; it has shea and cocoa butters, and is very moisturizing on my lips - I may never buy another lip balm again! If you're in the Charles Village, Baltimore area and would like to try one as well (I have 8 more), let me know!