It's always Half Full here.

About six weeks ago, I began a lifestyle change - attempting to eat healthier and less, as well as incorporating exercise into my daily routine. The latter has been surprisingly easier than the former. Now, if I don't go to the gym, I feel lethargic and not quite right. 


But, ever since I made this conscious change, I have had an UNBELIEVABLE craving for pizza. I have no idea why. It was never one of my favorite foods. I've been able to resist ordering out until I could make it myself and choose the quality of the ingredients. 


This is my attempt at recreating the pizza and wine bar Half Full. That place has slowly but surely become my favorite eatery in this town - great wine and gourmet pizza. I literally could not want more in life. All of you far-away friends - if you visit, we're going there. That will be my excuse to feed my obsession.


The Meal: Pizza Two Ways - Asparagus, Tomato & Feta and Peppers, Sausage and Parmesan

Now, I'm going to warn you first - it's quite a bit of extra work to make your own dough. But it's sooooo worth it. The taste is much lighter and fresher than anything you'll buy out of the case at the grocery store. And with this recipe, you can refrigerate the dough after it has risen for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to a month. So, you can work ahead when you have spare time and just whip up a homemade pizza in about 30 minutes.


The Ingredients: 1 tbsp. sugar
                               1 1/4 oz. package active dry yeast
                               1 1/3 cups warm water
                               3 tbsp. olive oil, plus more for brushing
                               3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
                               1 1/2 tsp. salt


                               3 cloves garlic, minced
                               8 oz. shredded mozzarella
                               4 oz. feta
                               15 asparagus spears
                               3 small tomatoes
                               4 oz. shredded parmesan
                               2 links hot Italian sausage
                               1 green bell pepper


This recipe for pizza dough is the only one I could that didn't use a stand mixer. As I'm not fortunate enough to drop several hundred dollars on a kitchen gadget at the moment, I had to do some searching. I actually found it on Food Network on my phone, but can't find it online to link to it. It's enough to make two pizzas, so invite some people over, be a fan of cold pizza the next day (YES PLEASE), or freeze half of it for later.


The Directions: Whisk the water and sugar together in a bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top and set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. Then, stir in the olive oil.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt with a fork. Create a well in the middle and pour in the yeast mixture.

Stir together with a wooden spoon until a rough dough forms.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Use those muscles!

Split the dough in half and form two balls. Drizzle olive oil into two bowls (so the dough doesn't stick as it rises, and you also get the added flavor of the olive oil) and place one ball of dough in each. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until it doubles in size, which turns out to be about 90 minutes.

While the dough was resting - it was pretty tired - I prepped my toppings. I don't find any problem with buying bags of shredded cheese as opposed to the more expensive blocks of gourmet cheese. There are great bags of shredded cheese at the grocery store, so I stock up when they're on sale because I know I'll use them.


You'll want to brown the sausage well, but not cook all the way through, or else it will dry out in the oven. So, cook quickly at a high heat in a small sautee pan. Rinse and trim the asparagus and cut into thirds. Cut the pepper into long, thin strips. Lastly, I like to scoop out the insides of tomatoes for pizza. I find that it weighs the pizza down and makes it soggy if you just dice it up.

When the dough has doubled in size, remove from the bowl and place on a floured surface. (Most recipes use cornmeal here if you want a crispy crust, but this one was plenty crispy without it.) Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick, which should put it just over the size of a regular round baking sheet. (What size are those? I dunno.)

I used the same technique for the outer crust as I did on the Cinnamon Apple French Tart. Just a little trick from my pizza making days at Oceanside Pizza in Fenwick Island. Pinch and fold about every 1/2 around the crust to achieve this braided look.

I also only own one round baking sheet, so I rolled the dough to a rectangle shape to fit my other baking sheet. Oh, well. Brush the dough liberally with olive oil all over and distribute the minced garlic evenly over the dough.

The mozzarella is going to give the other toppings some place to live. You don't want to weigh it down - the dough won't cook through. Just sprinkle an even layer over the dough.

Distribute the toppings how you see fit. There's really no science to it. I aim so that with every bite, you get some of each topping.

Lastly, add the extra cheese on top, so that the toppings are enveloped in cheese. Ohmygod CHEESE.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the crust has turned a golden brown. Your house is going to smell AMAZING.

Have mercy, this was a delicious meal. Totally satisfied my craving. And, I didn't feel to terrible about eating it. There were plenty of vegetables involved, and it was no where near as greasy as any take-out pizza you'll get.

Get some of this. It's totally worth the extra effort.