Roasted Red Pepper and Spinach Pizza

I try to always keep yeast in the house so that whenever I feel like pizza I can whip it up from scratch. If you're pressed for time, Trader Joe's pizza dough works well. I've found the secret to a great pizza dough is to roll it out in corn meal instead of flour. Even if you bought the pizza dough at the store, roll it out in corn meal for a better taste and texture.

Basic Pizza Dough
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup corn meal

1. Mix yeast, water, and sugar together. Let stand about 10 minutes, until mixture has bubbles.
2. In a food processor fitted with a dough hook, mix yeast mixture with all other ingredients until just combined.
3. Put dough in a bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise until dough doubles in size, about 30 minutes.
4. Sprinkle corn meal on surface. Roll out dough until desired shape.


Roasted Red Pepper and Spinach Pizza
Serves 4 

Basic pizza dough
2 roasted red peppers, sliced
1 handful of spinach, sliced
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, shredded

1 6 ounce can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, put pizza stone in oven to preheat.
2. Remove pizza stone from oven. Carefully transfer rolled out dough to pizza stone. You may need to adjust the dough to fit the pizza stone. Be careful not to touch the stone!

3. Top dough with sauce, cheese, and vegetables.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.