My Homemade Thin Pizza Crust Recipe - Step by Step

Homemade pesto, bocconcini, tomatoes and mortadella on a thin pizza crust. 

I've had lots of questions about our homemade pizzas. Making homemade pizzas are much easier then you think. Plus, the benefits are amazing! The pizza recipe that we use yields a nice thin pizza crust and is crispy. As for the base of the pizza I use either a red tomato sauce base, a pesto, or a simple fried garlic and olive oil. As for toppings anything is possible! Some days my topping inspirations come from whatever pizza-like ingredients that are in the fridge; which means some sort of cheese, cold cuts, and a veggie or two. Other days, we actually have leftovers on our pizzas! I know, this sounds interesting but having stir-frys, barbecued pork, steak etc.. from last night's dinner and topping it with cheese is completely fine in my books! When we have guests over, we tend to make pizzas with traditional ingredients.

What are some pizza toppings that you enjoy on your pizzas? 

Thin Crust Pizza Dough (makes 2 medium sized thin crust pizzas)

Preparation Time: 1.5 to 2 hours

Ingredients

• 1  1/4 Cups of lukewarm water
• 1  1/2 Teaspoons of fast rising yeast
• 1 Tablespoon of honey
• 2  3/4 Cups of all purpose flour
• 1 Teaspoon of salt
• 2 Teaspoons olive oil
• Corn meal to cover baking surface

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine water and honey evenly then stir in yeast. Let stand until frothy, for about 5 minutes. (I place mine in the microwave as it is free from drafts). 
2. In a different bowl, mix the flour, salt and oil. Stir with a wooden spoon. Add the yeast mixture and mix until a soft ball is obtained. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for a few minutes while flouring to avoid sticking to work surface.
3. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Let the dough rise for about 1 hour in a slightly warm area, away from drafts.
4. Divide the pizza dough into two equal parts to make 2 pizzas.
5. You can use the dough immediately or lightly oil before storing in a plastic bag. It can be refrigerated up to 12 hours or frozen. 
6. Preheat your oven to 240C to 260C degrees (460F - 500F)
7. You don't need to pre-bake your dough. Stretch and roll out the dough to however thick or thin you like. 
8. Sprinkle corn meal on a sheet of parchment paper large enough for your pizza. 
9. Place your stretched out pizza dough on top of the corn meal (see notes)
10. Add your preferred base sauce (pesto, garlic oil, etc..) and the pizza toppings.
11. Bake the pizza (which is sitting on the parchment paper) at the lowest rack on a tray or on a pizza stone for around 15-20 minutes or until your crust is lightly browned. 

Notes: 

• To activate yeast, the temperature of the water and the honey is important. The temperature must be between 41C and 46C degrees (105F and 115F degrees), which means that the water must be heated a little. The liquids should not be too hot as this will kill the yeast and not too cold, as the dough will not rise.
• Corn meal prevents the pizza crust from sticking to the tray and turning the dough soggy. 
• I've found that using parchment paper makes it easier to transfer the pizza in and out of the oven. Less messy and sticky. 

Pictures of various pizza toppings that I've tried at home pictured below. Some of these were made with fellow food friends. 

Smoked Salmon, capers and arugala. For this pizza I find that placing the smoked salmon  & capers
after making is best. Squeeze some lemon juice on before serving. 

Artichoke, arugala, tomatoes and mozzarella. 

Tomato sauce based pizza with mozzarella, sopressata, mushrooms, garlic and chili flakes

Quebec cheese, black olives, anchovies, hot oil and capers

garlic olive oil base with bocconcini, roasted red peppers, artichokes, pancetta and pecorino

Dessert pizza: bananas & home-made nutella

There are so many more toppings you can have on your pizza! Have fun trying out classic and new pizzas.