Homade pizza is easy to make, but often people give up after a try or two because it is easier to call The local pizza place. I’ll admit I’m just as guilty as ordering delivery, especially since Lost Dog’s newest location in South Arlington opened up near us. Homemade is a lot cheaper. Here are a few tips to make it yummy.

Tip 1. Hot oven. Some recipes set the oven to 375 or 400. I find though that a really good pizza needs 500 degrees. Also you need a pizza stone or a special pan so you get a crisp crust.

Tip 2 Kneed More — you should be able to stretch the dough thin enough to see though it. This often requires kneeding for longer than you’d like. Of you’ve got it lined up the bread will e like a soft pillow when it has risen and will easily stretch out with gravity and tossing it by hand. If bug holes show up when you try to stretch it out you didn’t kneed it long enough.

Tip 3 Flour combination. I use 7/8 bread flour to 1/8 whole wheat or other more flavorful flour to give some texture and complexity.

Tip 4 Cheese and Topping fun — you can really go crazy with mixes of cheeses and toppings. Try making a small salad out of your proposed cheeses, topping combo and sauce. If it works for the salad, it wil work on pizza.

Finally here’s a base recipe I use.. Though I switch out a quarter cup of whole wheat flour, and add a little more sugar. The recipe says to cook at 350 for 20 minutes, ignore that, try 500 for about 10 minutes or so. It is done when it is golden brown.

Offer your rebuttals, additional tips and comments in the space provided below.