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I don’t think I know of a person that doesn’t like having or making pizza. Usually the big question is all about whether thin or regular crust and what kind of toppings to put on the pizza. And there are many. Anywhere from just pepperoni and cheese to most anything else. Really, the variety you can create
For me, it depends on what mood. First I decide on the sauce – red or white. Then the toppings and that depends on what I have in the fridge or if I planned to make pizza and the toppings.
I had a great time being in the kitchen making pizzas with my daughter Molly and daughter-in-law Isabel. We made three different pizzas with different sauces and toppings. I had a good time and loved tasting our different kinds of pizza. All of them were so delicious to eat. So let’s make pizza.
Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1 cup of warm water (105 – 110 degrees)
- 1 Tbsp Sugar
- 2 ¼ tsp Active Dry Yeast (1 pkg)
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 – 2 ½ cups of Flour
- 1 tsp Salt
Sauce:
Feel free to use your favorite red tomato pizza sauce or white sauce here. I do prefer to make my own red and white sauce but a good jar sauce does make it easier and good as well.
Toppings:
Are really what you like. I go from a Margherita pizza to three kinds of meat, onions, mushrooms, olives, green peppers and onions to Chicken, red or green onions, mushrooms, spinach and sundried tomatoes and of course cheese. Oh the cheese – provolone, mozzarella, parmesan cheese.
Sauce Recipes:
Red:
- 1 15 oz can Tomato Sauce
- 1 6 oz can Tomato Paste
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 2 tsp Italian Seasonings
- ½ tsp Oregano
- Pinch or more of Sugar, if needed
- Note: This makes a thicker sauce then using a 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- and tomato paste. I use an immersion blender to make the sauce smooth if using crushed tomatoes.
Directions:
- In a saucepan add the tomato paste and olive oil and cook for about 1-2 minutes on medium heat.
- Add in the garlic and onion powder, Italian seasonings, oregano, salt and sugar.
- Stir and cook for about another 1 minute.
- Add in the tomato sauce and cook for about 2-3 minutes until heated through and the sauce has thickened.
- Cool before spreading the sauce on the pizza dough.
- If you have any sauce leftover you can store it in the fridge for about 5 days or in the freezer for a couple of months.
White:
This is basically a white sauce or béchamel sauce with cheese. Oh so good. I like it best with chicken. This recipe is for about 1 or 2 pizzas. If you double the recipe you can make enough sauce for about 4 small pizzas.
- Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp Butter
- 1 Tbsp Flour
- 2/3 cup Milk
- Dash of salt and pepper
- 1 tsp minced Garlic or ½ tsp Garlic Powder.
- 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan Cheese.
Directions:
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter and then whisk in the flour. Continue to whisk for about a minute or more to cook the flour. But don’t let the four brown.
- Slowly add in the milk whisking constantly until smooth. Add in the parmesan cheese and continue to cook the sauce until it is bubbly and has thickened.
- Cool the sauce before adding to the pizza.
Directions
- Preheat oven 450 degrees
- Add warm water (105-110) in a large bowl. Add in the yeast and sugar and stir to combine and then let sit for about 5 minutes until it foams up or is frothy.
- Add in the olive oil and then the flour, salt and mix until the flour mixture forms a ball. The dough will be a little sticky. You can mix by hand or with a mixer using the bread hook device.
- Transfer dough to a bowl, greased with oil and make sure you turn the dough so all of it is lightly greased with oil.
- I would recommend letting the dough rest for about 30 -45 minutes to rise but not necessary, before transferring the dough to a floured surface and knead until smooth.
- If using a pizza stone, from what you may have seen in my video making pizza dough with my daughter and daughter-in-law, I recommend heating up the pizza stone before placing the dough on it. It’ll help in evenly baking and in the center of the dough.
- When working with the pizza dough, be patient. It may take a little time. You can use your hands for the pizza pie or rolling pin. As you gently push, roll and/or stretch the dough into the shape you want it may spring back a little. Keep at it until the desired thickness and shape.
- Par-bake and prick your pizza dough before adding the sauce and toppings. This will help in having the dough cook all the way through and not be soft or soggy in the middle and prevent air bubbles forming in the dough. If wanting a crispier crust on the bottom sprinkle some corn meal on the bottom of the pizza stone/pan before baking.
- After par-baking your dough, let cool before adding the sauce, cheese and toppings. The big question is after adding the sauce to the crust you add the toppings and then cheese or the cheese and toppings. I have found this can be debatable. So I’m going to leave it to you and with what I’ve done.
- If I’m adding more than a couple of vegetables, I’ll add the vegetables first, then about 1/3 of the cheese, then meat and then the rest of the cheese. Why, I think this helps the vegetable from over cooking or browning before the pizza is fully baked.
- Add the sauce, vegetables, 1/3 of the grated/shredded cheese, meats and then the remaining cheese. If not adding vegetables then add the cheese and then the meat.
- Bake pizza for about 12-15 minutes until the cheese has melted and the crust and cheese has turned slightly brown.
- Cool slightly before cutting the pizza pie. Time for Pizza.
Enjoy ☺
