Homemade Pizza!

One of the best things I've purchased in the last year is a breadmaker, which was a great buy at $35 from Circuit City. I've saved quite a bit of money by making my own bread and also my own pizza dough. It's not cheap to buy a pizza every week, even frozen ones, so I know I've definitely gotten my money's worth from this bread machine. Granted, it's not a top-of-the-line model, but it has enough features to make a variety of items like quick breads, jam, and bread dough. Which brings me to the pizza.
I make this usually every week, and it's so easy! It requires time in that the dough needs kneading and rising, but the machine takes care of that part. You just need to assemble the ingredients, and once the dough is ready, stretch it in the pan and add the toppings. I make a mean spinach and tomato pizza, the leftovers from lunch below are packed away for dinner tonight.
In summer, I can definitely see putting basil from my herb garden on this, and if we had a grill, I'd even cook this on there. You could also turn the dough into foccaccia or a calzone.

Crusty/Herby Pizza Dough Recipe for a Bread Machine

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1. Combine the water and olive oil in the bread machine pan. Add the dry ingredients (except for the yeast) on top. I like to rub the herbs between my palms (not for magic) so that you release the oils before adding them to the mix.
2. Make a little well in the dry ingredients, and put the yeast in there.
3. Turn the bread machine on to the "dough" setting (which is an hour and a half on mine)
4. Wait until the dough is ready. It would be a good time to put away your ingredients, get your pizza pans ready, have some coffee, watch one of those judge/courtroom shows that dominate the TV channels during the day.
5. After about an hour and 15 minutes, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
6. Lightly oil your pan(s) and sprinkle with cornmeal.
7. When the dough is ready, stretch it out onto the pan. I can usually make two pizzas from this batch of dough.
8. Add the sauce and toppings, including the cheese.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and brown.

Enjoy!