Homemade pizza is an easy answer when you want to whip something up easy. There are gluten-free flours if you want to make it completely from scratch, or wheat and gluten free ready-made pre-mixed flours, or what we usually do, get pizza dough in the freezer section of your grocery store. The preferred but elusive option is to buy the dough from a great pizza place, if you know one.
The most important tricks to getting crusty pizza every time is to use a real pizza stone, get or make good dough, and pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees for an hour. Yes, a whole hour – you want it really hot to get the crunchy crust and cook meat toppings (optional).
We chop whatever vegetables we have. There’s no limit to topping combinations: use some summer pesto as the base or tomato sauce from a jar. There are no rules, just what you like to eat and have on hand.
Once you get the knack- and the learning curve is short- you have another easy go-to recipe that is surprising light yet satisfying.
Trial-and-error has shown us a little of each topping goes a long way on a pizza for two.
Ingredients:
Leftover homemade tomato sauce
Pesto
String beans
Cherry tomatoes
Garlic
Onions
Mushrooms
Sweet peppers
Chili peppers
Olives
Sausage – soy-based or real
Shredded cheese: most of the time we use a shredded soy or rice-based substitute for cheese- this keeps it lighter, less filling and healthier. In the photo above we tried a soy-based mozzarella cheese that turns to clear liquid when heated. Having tried it several times, we’re not going to buy that one again as it doesn’t add flavor, it just eases a health-obsessed conscience.
The dough is hand-pressed into its shape (which comes out differently, each time), not over-handling, as the directions recommend. Use parchment paper under the dough, and to transfer the uncooked pizza onto the stone. Once on the stone, spread a little olive oil on the dough or some tomato sauce, add toppings- no need for perfection- then place in oven, for 10 minutes.
Pour a glass of wine to get started, use a paddle to take the pizza out of the oven, let it sit a few minutes before slicing, and enjoy!
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