There is nothing better than the sense of accomplishment you get when you make your own pizza. My favorite thing to do is set out bowls of toppings and let my family make their own, just the way they like it.
Since the boys weren’t home, I went ahead and made a single pizza for Mike and me. The photos were taken before we lost Max, and I did not want to cut him out. He was such a part of everything we did. He always supervised our mealtime, in hopes we would drop something. He was our personal Roomba. You will see him photo bombing our shoot!
I always make my dough using the Cuisinart Basic Pizza Dough recipe. It has served me well for over twenty years, so I recommend it. You can also buy your dough. There are some good and not so good doughs on the market, so you may need to experiment to see what your family prefers.
For my sauce, again I turn to the Cuisinart Tomato Pizza Sauce recipe (found in my old recipe book that came with my Cuisinart machine), which I can not find on the web. It is pretty easy using tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste and herbs. But again, you can find some good store-bought sauces; you may have to taste test.
Then chop, slice and dice any toppings your family likes or that you have on hand. The night I made this, I thought I was short on toppings, but once you pile them on they start to add up.
Ideas for toppings include:
Chicken
Ground hamburger meat, cooked
Ground sausage, cooked
Pepperoni
Bacon
Onions
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Bell peppers
Black and green olives
Artichokes
Pimentos
Pineapple
Fresh herbs, like basil, thyme, etc.
Cheese such as: mozzarella, Parmesan, fontina, or Mexican three-cheese blend
You can even go exotic and add corn kernels, black beans, shredded lettuce, picante sauce in place of tomato sauce, or go with a theme like a Mexican pizza or a BLT. Use your imagination!
A homemade crust should be baked at 425 degrees for about 6-8 minutes. After topping, it will need to bake for about 17-20 minutes.
Trust me, making homemade pizza, even if it is from scratch, is easy! The last time I made it a few weeks ago, I even tossed and spun the pizza dough in the air (and I didn’t drop it!). Your family will LOVE participating in making dinner.
Enjoy!
