Homemade Pizza – Better than take-out

homemade pizza

When I was a kid Friday nights were pizza night. My family would always order pizza from the pizzeria from down the road and there always seemed to be an argument over what toppings to get.

For many years now I have been making homemade pizza instead. In the beginning they weren’t great but over the years I have perfected the techniques. This post is really more about the technique than the recipe.

Most of the time I use pizza dough from the store. Our local store sells fresh made dough that they freeze. It is convenient to keep some in the freezer and just take it out in the morning when you want a pizza that night. The long rise on the counter all day makes for a great tasting crispy crust.

I will experiment with a few homemade pizza dough recipes and post my results soon.

You can use any toppings you like. The key is to have a pizza stone. Preheat the oven as hot as it will go with the stone while you are putting everything together. You can also put the pizza stone on the grill outside for those days you don’t want your kitchen to be so hot.

Honestly, this turns out better than any of the pizzerias around. I’d rather have this homemade pizza than any take-out we can get. Give it a try and leave a comment with your favorite toppings.

Yum

-Scott

Homemade Pizza

This is more of a technique than a recipe. You can really make this one your own with whatever toppings you like. For this one we made a three cheese white pizza with sausage, bacon, roasted red pepper, broccoli, onion and fresh grape tomatoes. Give it a try and let me know your favorite toppings.
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time10 mins
resting time2 hrs
Total Time40 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: Pizza
Servings: 1 large pizza

Ingredients

  • 1 prepared pizza dough store bought or homemade
  • olive oil extra virgin
  • 2 sweet Italian sausage links casings removed
  • 3 bacon slices
  • 1/2 onion sliced
  • 1/4 red pepper roasted under broiler
  • 2 garlic roasted cloves
  • broccoli fresh steamed or frozen
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flake
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
  • 8 oz mozzarella cheese grated
  • 2 slices provolone cheese
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Let the dough rise on the counter.  If using a store bought frozen dough I leave the frozen dough on the counter in the morning and it is ready by dinner time.  The long rise time gives great flavor.
    pizza dough
  • place the whole garlic cloves in a skillet with a little olive oil on medium heat to “roast” the garlic.  You can leave the paper skin on and let the garlic blacken slowly on the heat.  When it is completely roasted the garlic will easily squeeze out of the paper skin.  Chop the garlic and set aside for topping the pizza.
    roasted garlic
  • while the garlic is roasting, place the red pepper under the broiler to blacken the skin.  When the pepper is nicely blackened remove and wrap in a paper towel until cooled.  Remove the blackened skin and cut into strips for the pizza topping.  When you remove the pepper from the oven turn the oven to 550 degree with the pizza stone in the oven to preheat.
  • After the dough has risen, press it out on a lightly floured counter to form a large circle (pie) for your crust.  I use my finger tips to punch the dough down to a thin circle and then press it out to a circle that matches the size of my pizza peel.  Spread some cornmeal on your pizza peel so that the dough will not stick.  Set aside until you are ready to assemble the pizza.
    pizza crust
  • Brown the sausage and bacon.  Crumble into small bite sizes; set aside for topping the pizza.
    browning sausage
  • Saute the onions and broccoli with a little salt, pepper and the crushed red pepper.
  • Top the prepared crust with a little olive oil, oregano, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella and provolone.
  • add the rest of your toppings evenly to the pizza.  Bake on the preheated pizza stone for 8-10 minutes until the crust is browned and crispy.
  • Slice into 8-10 slices.  Enjoy!

Notes

You can change this up with any toppings you like.  The pizza stone and peel make this just like a pie from the pizzeria.  Add tomato sauce, olives, anything you want! 

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