1. To make pizza crust, combine warm water and salt in a mixing bowl. Add about 2 cups of the flour, along with the yeast, and stir until a sticky dough forms. Add more flour as needed, and knead dough with clean hands until a soft, elastic dough forms. Knead for 5 minutes or so.

If you have a bread machine, set machine to "dough" cycle and put ingredients into the machine in order listed. (Start with 2 cups of flour and add more as it kneads if the dough looks too sticky.) Dough should be slightly sticky, but smooth and elastic. I allow my bread machine to knead the dough for about 15 minutes (or until dough looks smooth and elastic) before turning off the machine and pulling out the dough to use.

2. Liberally butter a 16-inch round pizza pan. With clean buttery hands, spread and press the dough into the pan to form a pizza crust.

3. Mix sauce ingredients together and spread over the dough. Sprinkle toppings on. I listed the toppings in the order I prefer to add them (sun dried tomatoes can get too dark if they're added last; the spinach shrinks substantially as it cooks and will look like a lot less in the end!).

If you like a thinner crust, pre-heat oven and bake immediately.f you prefer a slightly thicker/fluffier crust, allow pizza to rest for 15-20 minutes before baking.

4. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Bake pizza for 10-12 minutes, until the crust is browned on bottom and the toppings are hot and bubbly.

If I'm using a thinner, non-stick pizza pan, I bake it on the top oven rack. For a heavier/thicker stainless steel pan, I use the bottom oven rack to ensure that the crust gets fully cooked.

5. Remove pizza from oven; cut into slices after about 5 minutes. Serve with crushed red pepper and Parmesan cheese if desired.