Day of rest....almost: sausage onion jalapeno pizza

It's Sunday. I enjoy Sundays for the most part but at times they can seem hectic. I always want to finish up any remaining chores and errands before the week starts. Plus you have to get over the fact that the week is starting again. It is always the dark cloud awaiting for another work week, especially after a good weekend.

I proudly state that I am a bit OCD. Although this weekend was very busy, it was also very homey and productive. For me it was a very good weekend. Jordan and I got so much done on Saturday you would think that Sunday would have been restful. However, we had a list to accomplish for the weekend and not everything was crossed out come Sunday morning. Thus off I went. Below is my going ons in the morning.

6am wake up

7am breakfast - cereal for me but Jordan went all out with homemade potato hash and eggs

8am run - the walking challenge at work and the Nike plus challenge with friends is really making my legs hurt

9:30am grocery store

10:30am home

At this point I realize my plan on pizza for lunch hinged on the fact that I was going to buy pizza dough at the grocery store. I forgot, so on to plan B. I knew I had yeast in the pantry and lots of flour to use up before the move. I also knew the yeast was pretty old and bad yeast is no good for any type of dough.

11am attempt pizza dough was extremely expired yeast

11:05am realize yeast is still good and finish pizza dough

11:15am load of laundry while dough is rising

12pm make pizza!

What a full day and it is only noon! At this point Jordan is home from golfing and he is more than willing to be the sous chef with chopping the toppings and finishing off the pizza.

12:05pm Switch clothes from washer to dryer.

12:10pm pizza in oven

12:30pm we feast on said pizza

Now the for recipe...
Dough ingredients:

1 package yeast

1/2 C water (110 degrees)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/4 C room-temperature water

4 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

Yea the yeast works!

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 C water at 110 degrees for 5 minutes. It will start to foam, which means the yeast is active. In a 2 cup measure combine olive oil and 1 1/4 c room temp water. After 5 minutes mix the two liquids together.

In stand mixer with dough hook attachment combine the flour and salt. Turn on mixer to slow and pour in yeast/oil mixture. Wait till all of the water is incorporated and the dough begins to form a ball.

Remove from mixer bowl and knead by hand a few turns making the dough into a ball shape. Put in an already prepared bowl - Deep bowl that is covered in oil. I just spread all the sides with Pam. Cover with plastic wrap and wait 1-2 hours - dough should double in size.

Doubled dough size

Orginal dough size

When the dough doubles punch down a couple of times. The recipe makes 3 medium size pizzas. I use have for a pizza the size of a cookie sheet and save the other half for later in the fridge. It should last about 3 days. I bet you could freeze the leftovers as well but I have never tried this.

sausage onion jalapeno pizza

Somewhere along the way Jordan and I discovered the perfect compromise for a large pizza to share. Sausage, onion, garlic, and jalapeno. It is delicious and now basically the only thing we order when getting take out. Today we happen to have all of the ingredients on hand to make at home since we had Italian sausages the other day for lunch (it was suppose to be for a big pasta dish for dinner, but weather, time, and hunger got in the way).

I am not going to spell out a recipe for pizza now that you have the dough. Basically you roll out the dough to desired shape. I like a thinner crust that is a bit crispy. To achieve this you set the oven at a higher temperature - we go with 400 degrees and put the rack at the lowest level.

Counter full of toppings

Cover pizza with sauce, cheese and toppings. In this case we used a combination of both fresh and shredded mozzarella. We also added garlic, one sliced tomato, and then the leftovers which was store bought Italian sausage links sliced and sauted onions.

Jordan imagining his handy work of pizza making.

Yummy! And just so you know at 3pm I took to watching weddng shows on the WE network and HGTV. It was a day of rest after all, at least the second half.