The BEST EVER Homemade Pizza

I love this recipe. LOVE LOVE LOVE! The crust is wonderful and the sauce is divine! I always get RAVE reviews when I use this recipe and it really isn't that hard. I hate to mix and knead dough... I wish I had a mixer... but oh well. Maybe someday!

HOMEMADE PIZZA

CRUST
1 pkg. Dry yeast (2 tsp. = 1 pkg.)
2 Tbsp. Lukewarm water
Dissolve yeast in warm water.
1 egg
1 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Shortening or oil
1 cup boiling water
3 cups flour

Beat egg, add shortening, salt, sugar. Slowly stir in boiling water. Cool to lukewarm and add yeast mixture. Add ½ flour; stir (or beat with electric mixer) until smooth. Add remaining flour. Knead to soft dough. Roll to fit pan. Spread light coating of oil over dough on pan. Let rise 15 minutes. (You can spread on sauce and toppings while waiting for dough to rise.)

SAUCE
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cans tomato paste
½ tsp. Ground sweet basil
½ tsp. Oregano
3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Sugar
¾ tsp. Garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together and spread on top of dough. Top with cheese, olives, peppers, ham, pepperoni, mushrooms, as desired, or topping of your choice. Bake pizza at 425 for 15-20 minutes.

*Note: A good cheese mixture is ½ Mozzarella and ½ American, medium sharp. I doubled the crust recipe and left the sauce recipe as is and we made 4 LARGE personal pizzas with lots of leftover sauce.