Making pizza at home is highly rewarding, whether you?re trying to duplicate the specialty of a local pizzeria or inventing something outside the box.

Aside from the cost savings of homemade pizza, there?s satisfaction in choosing and working with good-quality makings: olive oil, real cheese (preferably not presliced or pregrated), unbleached flour, fresh garlic and other wholesome ingredients.

Even the most time-consuming part of making pizza the dough for the crust is within your control. An electric mixer ensures thorough mixing, even if you prefer hand-kneading the dough.

To fully streamline mixing and kneading, use a food processor, heavy-duty mixer with a dough hook or a bread machine. Fast-acting (quick-rising) yeast doesn?t need to be first dissolved and cuts the rising time in half.

Pancetta, Italian-style bacon, is available in the deli section of most supermarkets and in stores specializing in Italian foods.

Make this recipe as two 12-inch pizzas or a 17- or 18-inch one. For a short-cut, substitute approximately a cup of canned or bottled pizza sauce for the sauce recipe.

When preparing dough in a bread machine, follow the manufacturer?s recommendations for the type of yeast and the temperature of the liquid.

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large (about ten ounces) red onion, thinly slivered

pound thinly sliced pancetta, cut into -inch-wide strips

3 cups ( pound) freshly shredded mozzarella cheese

cup freshly grated pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese

Easy-Mix Pizza Dough (recipe below)

Fresh Tomato Sauce with White Wine (recipe below)

1. Prepare Easy-Mix Pizza Dough (see below). While dough rises, make sauce, then set it aside.

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat oil in a large frying pan over moderate heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until soft but not browned (eight to ten minutes). Remove onion with a slotted spoon and reserve.

3. Add pancetta to same pan and cook, stirring often, until it begins to brown (about three minutes). Drain on paper towels, reserving any oil remaining in pan.

4. Lightly oil two 11- to 12-inch pizza pans (or a single 17- to 18-inch pan). Divide dough into two equal portions; roll each half out to an eight-inch circle (or roll all of the dough to a 12- to 14-inch circle). Use your hands to pat and stretch dough to fit pan(s). Brush evenly with oil remaining in frying pan.

5. Divide sauce over the pizza(s). Sprinkle evenly with cheeses. Arrange onion and pancetta evenly over cheese.

6. Bake on lowest rack of preheated oven or pizza stone until crust browns well (15 to 20 minutes for smaller pizzas, 18 to 20 minutes for larger pizza). Cut into wedges or squares and serve at once. Makes two medium pizzas or one large pizza (four to six servings).

2 to 2 cups unbleached bread flour

1 package fast-rising dry yeast

teaspoon salt

1 cup hot (120 degrees to 130 degrees) water

1 teaspoon honey

2 teaspoons olive oil

1. To prepare dough in food processor, in the work bowl, mix 2 cups bread flour, yeast and salt. Combine hot water, honey and olive oil in a measuring cup. With the food processor running, pour liquid mixture through feed tube in a steady stream, but slowly enough for the flour to absorb it.

Turn off processor when dough forms a ball. Dough should feel a little sticky. If too soft, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, processing until dough has a firm consistency. Process an additional 45 seconds to finish kneading. Shape dough into a ball, then turn in a greased bowl to rise.

To prepare dough by hand:

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine 2 cups of the flour, fast-acting yeast and salt. Stir to blend thoroughly. In a small bowl, combine hot water, honey and oil; stir to blend well.

Add water mixture to flour mixture. Mix to blend; beat at medium speed until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes). Stir in about cup more flour to make a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto a generously floured board or pastry cloth and knead by hand until dough is smooth and satiny and small bubbles form just under surface (five to ten minutes), adding bread flour (up to cup) if needed to prevent dough from sticking. Turn kneaded dough in a greased bowl.

2. Cover dough with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (30 to 40 minutes). Punch dough down, cover with inverted bowl, and let rest ten minutes, then use as directed.

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 medium tomatoes (about one pound), peeled, seeded and diced

1 large clove garlic, minced or pressed

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, or teaspoon dried basil or herbes de Provence

teaspoon salt

cup dry white wine

Heat oil in two-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and garlic. Mix in basil, salt and wine. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Uncover and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often as sauce begins to thicken, until sauce is thick and reduced to about 1 cup (15 to 20 minutes).

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