Making one’s own pizza sounds like such a lot of work, but although it takes time, it is not labor intensive. There is something miraculous about the way yeast can transform flour and water into bread dough. Whenever my niece and nephew come to stay we make DIY (do it yourself) pizza. It’s pretty funny to watch a group of kids turn their own piece of dough into a pizza. There are the careful chefs who use a rolling pin and try to keep their pizza round and the risk takers who try to imitate TV chefs by throwing the dough in the air. The dog likes that technique. Creativity so far as toppings are concerned should be encouraged.
This pizza recipe is my suggestion for a weekend project.

1 tablespoon sugar
1 package dried yeast
7 fl oz warm water (if you have well water, use bottled water for this)
3 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Put the sugar, yeast and 3 fl oz of the water in a small bowl, stir and leave for 5 minutes. If there are no bubbles throw the mixture away and start again.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, remaining water, yeast and oil. Mix together until it is a cohesive mass, adding a little more water if necessary to achieve soft but not sticky dough.
Turn out onto a floured work surface.
Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. It will become easier to work and more elastic as you knead. This can be difficult for kids to do because their hands are too small to make much of an impression, show them how to take the dough in one hand and then press with the heel of the hand into the work surface.
Rub the inside of a large bowl with a little more oil and oil the dough. Cut a shallow cross in the dough and let it rise in the fridge, covered, for 8 hours. If you do this in the morning, you’ll have pizza for dinner.
Let the dough warm to room temperature and divide it in half. Each half will make a 12 inch pizza.
Shape the dough into a round or as much of a round as you can make. I find that a rolling pin is the easiest way, but you can just stretch the dough to any shape. Let the dough rest again at room temperature for about a half hour and preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Use a baking stone if you have one.
Apply any toppings that appeal.
I think it’s a mistake to add too much tomato sauce as it can make for a soggy pizza. Add just a smear of tomato, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and basil leaves or just anchovies and mozzarella over the tomatoes.

Bake the pizzas as soon as you have put on the toppings. They will only take 10 minutes, just enough time to make a green salad and open a bottle of wine for the adults.
These 2 pizzas serve four generously and as every college student will attest, leftovers are good for breakfast.