For My Fiance Focaccia Bread Pizza Recipe

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I can cook. Now. See, for a while, it was bad. Really bad. I remember my friend's mom being shocked that I made stir fry once. Not because I made it from scratch (that sauce came from a packet), but just because I made it at all. I was that bad. I mean, I was the girl who sometimes ate sauce sandwiches. What are those, you ask? Oh, it's when you make a pot of spaghetti sauce ... and then realize you have nothing to eat it with so you toast bread, slop on some sauce, and top it with mozzarella cheese. I remember telling people, "It's like a meatball hero without the meatballs."

It. Was. Bad.

Now, though, now I can cook. I can come up with ideas on my own, I've figured out which spices go together, and I get a lot less distracted by shiny objects resulting in less burnt items that I'm forced to consume.

I figured you might need a little help too. You don't want to get married and have your husband live in the land of the bland. So, I'm here to not only help with your wedding planning but also with your time in the kitchen. Starting with this post (and continuing if anyone is really interested), I'll be posting recipe ideas with cute names and easy steps to follow. Fun, right?

For My Fiance Focaccia Bread Pizza

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons margarine (or butter)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour, plus 1/2 cup all purpose flour on the side
• 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• Drizzle of olive oil
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• Fresh (or dried) herbs
• Fresh toppings of your choosing
• Large bowl with no n-slip base
• Kitchen towel
• Baking sheet
• Rolling pin
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons

What You'll Do:

Measure out your margarine and leave it on the counter. You're going to proof the yeast, which will take about ten minutes, giving your margarine enough time to really soften.

Fill a cup with warm water (about 110-degrees). Yeast is so fickle. If the water is too cold, it won't wake up. And if it's too hot, you'll kill it. But, honestly, it's not that hard to proof yeast, so don't be intimidated by it. Pete told me our kitchen faucet doesn't go high enough to kill the yeast. So fill a cup (I use a non-slip measuring cup because that's what Pete uses. I've heard the type of vessel that you proof in can affect if it will/won't proof. Pete's never had a problem with our measuring cups, so that's what I use too). So fill that with 1 cup warm water, and, if you're worried, use a thermometer to check the temperature.

Add in the yeast and stir it into the water. Then, wait ten minutes. It will start to bubble and pop, which is pretty fun to watch if you're bored.

Pour the 2 1/2 cup portion of the flour, margarine, and salt into a large bowl with a no slip base. I really recommend this kind of bowl. We have them in both plastic and metal, and they're great. Your bowl will just sit on your counter top when you're mixing, pouring, whatever. You don't have to worry about it flying off the counter. If you haven't registered yet, I very much encourage you to add some non-slip bowls. Trust me on this.

Add the proofed yeast (this includes the water it proofed in). Mix it all together.

Then, take some of the extra half cup portion of the flour and sprinkle it onto a countertop. Dump the dough on there and kneed for ten minutes. This forms the gluten that allows your dough to rise and taste like bread.

If your dough is sticky (and it will be), pour a little flour on top and kneed it in. Don't do it all at once, but a little as you need it (yes, need without a k this time).

Drizzle a little bit of olive oil in a bowl and drop your dough ball in. Flip it around until it's all covered in a thin layer of oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel (which is a good reason to add one to your registry) and leave it for about an hour until it doubles in size.

Add a little flour to a baking sheet. Flatten the dough ball on to the baking sheet with a rolling pin, forming a circle.

Poke holes in it. I don't know why, if I'm being completely honest, but my friend whose recipe I based mine on said to do it.

Turn on your oven to 375 degrees. Cover the baking sheet with a kitchen towel and let the dough sit for ten or so minutes until your oven is pre-heated.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Take it out of the oven and let it "flatten." Spread the sauce on the pie. Sprinkle on the garlic powder and fresh herbs. I used fresh basil and oregano from our garden. You can use whatever you have. If you don't have fresh herbs, dried would be fine.

Spread your cheese on top and any fresh toppings you choose. I used two cherry tomatoes from my dad's garden.

Bake for an additional 10 minutes until the cheese is melt-y and delicious. Serve warm.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make this focaccia bread pizza recipe?