Make The Ultimate Cheese Pizza At Home!

Everyone has a favorite pizza spot — a place where you can grab a slice and drift off into heaven. Zesty tomato sauce, gooey cheese, and a charred crust combine to make the perfect pizza. While we all have a pizza place that we treasure, why not try making that same pizza at home? You may be a little skeptical, but trust us: You can make cheese pizza at home that will taste just as good as the pizzas from those fancy brick ovens — and maybe even better. 

1 ½ cups warm water

2 packets active dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ cup olive oil, plus more for bowl and brushing

2 teaspoons salt

4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for work surface

Recipe courtesy of marthastewart.com

Pour 1/2 cups warm water into a large bowl; sprinkle with yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. 

Whisk sugar, oil, and salt into yeast mixture. Add flour and stir until a sticky dough forms. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and brush top with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until dough has doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead 1 or 2 times before using.

While you are making the pizza sauce, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Now that you've made the pizza dough from scratch, don't settle for store-bought pizza sauce. Make the pizza sauce yourself in a few simple steps. All you'll need is:

1/2 cup tomato puree

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

To make the sauce, combine the puréed tomatoes with the tomato paste, minced garlic, and basil in a pot over medium-high heat until it warms through. Set aside.

To make the ultimate cheese pizza, one cheese won't cut it, so use two. We recommend a combination of mozzarella cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

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Take your pizza dough out of the oiled bowl and place on a floured surface. Roll the pizza dough into a circle or a square, making sure to leave about an inch of thickness around each corner.

Top 

Now that you've assembled your pizza, put it in the oven for about 13 to 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the dough is crisp.

Top your ultimate cheese pizza with a few extra basil leaves, then serve.