DIY Gourmet Pizza
My kids love to eat pizza…and love going to pizza parlors where they can create their own. But then we started making copy cat versions at home and ever since then….well…they have been hooked and for the past few months my family has been into making pizzas…really into making pizzas.
And I don’t mind. It’s an easy dinner that everyone will eat.
First we start with the dough. I use THIS RECIPE.
Once it has risen and been rolled out into individual pizza rounds it’s time to start “decorating”.
Begin with the sauce:
There are loads of yummy pizza sauce recipes out there…and sometimes we make our own sauce but usually…we just use what we already have open in the fridge or what is in the pantry. (And we like it just as much.)
Our favorite “Pizza Sauces” include:
- Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce
- Hunt’s Pasta Sauce
- Barilla’s Pesto Sauce
- Herdez’s Salsa Verde
It’s great because with individual pizzas we can all choose our own sauce and put on as much or as little as we’d like to recreate our favorite pizzeria flavors.
(I personally like the pesto the best…but my husband is a huge fan of the BBQ sauce.)
After you have covered your pizza dough with sauce it’s time to add the cheese:
We like to use grated Mozzarella on our pizzas. It is a good choice, melts well, and goes nicely with any sauce choice or topping.
(Tip: Recently I learned that we can buy pre-bagged cheese from several different pizza shops in the area…and we have been…and it’s delicious!)
Next come the toppings:
Toppings around our house are usually made up of whatever we have on hand in the fridge….left over shredded chicken, corn, pepperoni slices, spinach, bacon, etc. In fact, if we have a meal where there is left over chicken, bacon, or sausage we will have usually have pizza the next night to use up the leftovers.
Here’s a list of some of our favorite toppings:
MEATS
*Sausage
*Hamburger
*Pepperoni
*Cubed Ham
*Canadian Bacon
*Bacon
*Grilled Chicken
VEGETABLES
*Diced Yellow Onions
*Diced Red Onions
*Diced Red Pepper
*Jalepenos
*Corn
*Broccolli
*Spinach
*Tomatoes
OTHER TOPPINGS
*Pineapple
*Olives
*Red Pepper Flakes
*Artichoke Hearts
And finally comes the secret weapon:
Corn meal!
Sprinkle some corn meal on top of some parchment paper. Then place your pizza on that paper and slide it into the oven. That little bit of corn meal will give your crust an additional little crunch that feels gourmet!
It’s simple and easy. But if you are wondering how to combine some of the sauces and and toppings…
Here are some of our favorite combinations:
- BBQ Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Bacon, Red Peppers, Pineapple and Red Onions
- Pesto Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Sausage, Yellow Onions, and Spinach
- Salsa Verde, Mozzarella Cheese, Grilled Chicken, Corn, and Jalapeños
- Pasta Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Pepperoni, and Olives
- Pasta Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Canadian Bacon, Hamburger, Sausage
With a little experimentation you will find your favorite combinations as well.
Now….I just have to talk my husband into getting ONE OF THESE:
and we will be set all summer!
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