I bought a bread machine several years ago. Never made much bread with it; I've mainly used it to make pizza dough. The machine does all the hard work: kneading for about 30 mins, then the dough rises for an hour. At the end of that, you get this big batch of perfect pizza dough. One batch is enough for one 12-13" thick crust pizza, or two 12-13" thin crust pizzas. Just roll out the dough to the desired thickness, then drape it over the pizza pan and roll up the edges to form the crust. Then bake the untopped crust at 400°F for about 8 minutes, so it's gotten a little bit browned; take it out and add toppings, then bake another 10 minutes.

It's easy, and cheaper than delivery. Here are a few recipes I like.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:
1 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
1 packet active dry yeast

For Wheat Crust: substitute 1/2 cup of the white flour with whole wheat flour. Makes for a thicker crust and it rolls out better.

Prepare dough in bread machine on the "dough" cycle. (Alternately you can mix the ingredients by hand: stir flour into remaining ingredients until blended, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. ) When dough is finished rising, turn out on floured surface. (For thin crust pizza, cut dough in half and refrigerate one half in a plastic bag or container; use within 2 days.)

Coat a 12-14" pizza pan with olive oil (or PAM). Dust lightly with cornmeal to help prevent crust from sticking to pan.

Roll out dough to desired thickness and diameter. (The thinner it is, the crunchier the final pizza will be.) Drape dough over pizza pan; trim edges. Bake crust at 400F for 5-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and add desired toppings, then bake another 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Pesto Pizza

Roasted Garlic:
This is optional, but makes for excellent garlic flavor on pizza. I suggest making it while the dough is rising in the machine. Take 3 large cloves of garlic (unpeeled) and slice off one end of each clove. Add several tablespoons of olive oil to a small oven-proof bowl (or, I just take a square of aluminum foil and fold up the edges, to make my own disposable container). Dip the cut ends of the garlic into the oil, then lay the garlic in the oil. Sprinkle with pepper; bake for 30 minutes at 300F. When done, remove and pour the now garlic-flavored olive oil into a small container. Let the garlic cool off for a bit, then remove the softened garlic from the peel.

Pizza:
Brush pizza crust with garlic-flavored olive oil (if you roasted garlic; otherwise just use regular olive oil). Mash the roasted garlic and spread it around on the pizza. Take a fork-full of pesto and spread it around also. Sprinkle the cheese around until it just covers the pizza. Add onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms. Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes.

Tomato-Based Pizza Sauce

Place diced tomatoes in a food processor and puree. Pour into saucepan; add remaining ingredients. Bring mix to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Makes 1 cup.

Pepperoni Pizza