Pizza

Pizza is usually our go-to dinner on Friday nights. But we usually order out. Now that we are tightening the purse stings, homemade pizza is the way to go. Other than allowing time for the crust to rest/rise, homemade pizza is really not all that time consuming. Besides, having a few beers (or non-alcoholic drinks ;)) while the dough rises makes the time fly.
This pizza is a bacon cheese burger pizza. While not my all time favorite kind (as a former STL girl, my heart belongs to Imos), we didn't have any sausage and had to make due. I also added the meat before I added the cheese, screwing up the traditional pizza order of sauce, cheese and meat. But oh well, just more proof TGW is not perfect.

Pizza Dough
Ingredients
3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 cups (or more) all purpose flour or bread flour
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
~In a small bowl, stir yeast into warm water; let stand for 5 minutes.

~In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil and salt. Stir in the yeast mixture. Add 1-1/4 cups of the flour. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

~Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Lightly grease a large bowl; place dough in bowl and cover with a damp towel (make sure the towel does not touch the dough). Let dough rise in a warm place until double in size (30 minutes).

~Punch dough down. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 16x12-inch rectangle. (NOTE: I made a 16 inch circle). Place in a greased 16x12x1-inch baking pan. (I used my pizza pan). Cover with damp towel and let rise for 20 minutes.

~Bake for 12 minutes at 375 degrees before adding toppings.

Toppings
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (this is a ton of meat for this pizza, you can cut it in half if you want)
4 slices of thick cut bacon
1/2 Parmesan cheese
2 cups Mozzarella cheese
1 jar pizza sauce

Directions:
~In a large skillet over medium high heat brown the bacon. Once the bacon has browned, remove from pan and drain on a paper plate.

~Add the ground beef to the bacon drippings and cook until brown. Drain.

~Top the pre-baked pizza dough with the pizza sauce, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, bacon and ground beef.

~Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees or until the crust is golden.

recipe modified from: Better Homes and Gardens