Recipe for Herb and Sun Dried Tomato Pizza Crust at Life's Ambrosia

I don’t often make homemade pizza crust, but I was craving some pizza the other day and happened to have some packets of yeast so I thought what heck, lets give it a try. I wanted to have a little change from the plain pizza dough so I thought about adding some different things. First I added some dried oregano, and garlic. I then decided to add some of the oil from a can of sun dried tomatoes that I had in the fridge, and let me tell you the result was delicious!

As far as the rest of the pizza goes, I topped it with all of my favorite toppings: a quick red sauce (see recipe below), pepperoni, bell peppers, onions, sliced olives, fresh tomatoes and of course mozzarella. I then baked it until the crust was golden brown and the cheese was melted. It was like bringing the pizzeria home, except it was less expensive and I could do it all in my pajamas! :)

Serves 4

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 1/4- 2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon of oil that sun dried tomatoes are packed in
1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil

Dissolve yeast in warm water. About 10 minutes.
Sift together, flour, basil, oregano, granulated garlic and salt. Gradually add 2 cups of flour mixture to yeast mixture, mix to combine. Add sun dried tomato oil, mix to combine. Add in more flour slowly using your hands to gently mix the dough until it is no longer sticky.
On a flour coated surface, kneed dough until soft, about 5 minutes. Add more flour as needed so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands or the board.
Grease a bowl with 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil. Place dough in the bowl, cover tightly with saran wrap. Let rise in a warm, dark place for 40 minutes – 1 hour or until it has doubled in size. I put mine in a kitchen cabinet.
Once it has doubled in size, punch the dough to release the air bubbles.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and then using your hands shape into 15 inch pizza pan. Once shaped, brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
Bake the plain pizza dough for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with your favorite toppings. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Adding simple stuff that I have on hand to pizza crust has certainly opened my eyes. I am definitely excited to try some more. Any suggestions? Do you add anything to your homemade pizza crust?

Quick Red Sauce

1 (14.5 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
kosher salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in small sauce pan. Cook until warmed through.

Enjoy!

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Responses to "Herb and Sun Dried Tomato Pizza Crust"

“
Des,first it was the banana bread, now pizza dough….We sure do think alike!! I actually posponed my pizza post until tomorrow, but I was working on ittoday too. Isn’t it funny?
I never made a flavoured pizza dough, it sounds so interesting, but I wonder of the flavours compete with the toppings.
”

- Rita

“
Gosh, I love adding oregano to dough…you can just smell it and really start getting excited!

NAOmni
”

- NAOmni

“
Haha Rita that is funny! :) Before I started making the dough, I also wondered whether or not the flavors would compete with the toppings, but the flavors are actually pretty subtle and compliment the flavors from the toppings nicely.
NAOmni: Isn’t it amazing what smells can do? ;-)
”

- Deseree

“
what an ingenius idea, adding flavors to the pizza crust for an extra kick!
”

- sophia

“
Thanks Sophia!
”

- Deseree

“
NICE! I make bread or pizza dough similar but instead of just the oil from the sundried tomatos, I add finely chopped sundried tomatoes to the mix, chopped fresh basil, chopped garlic and some chopped serrano chiles. The dough will be wunderfully red in color with a bit of zing to it!
”

- Robbie

“
Thanks Robbie! Your additions sound great! Maybe next time I’ll have to add the actual tomatoes.
”

- Deseree

“
I will definitely try this! Thank you for sharing. I’m new at cooking and I cheat in making pizza crust. I use wheat or white pita bread (toasting it first on the stove top) as the pizza crust, add pizza sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella, turkey pepperoni and bake it for 7-10min in a 400 degree (preheated) oven. You can use any of your favorite toppings, fresh mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes is another great one. It serves 1, me usually :)
”

- sunnyday

“
Thanks sunnyday! That is a great idea that you had. How is turkey pepperoni? I have never tried it before but I do like to substitute turkey when I can.
”

- Deseree