Homemade Pizza (1 Viewer)

[Mike SJ]

I use Boboli pizza crust and sauce -
then its
1 chopped portabella mushroom, 2 if needed
1 finely chopped white onion
3 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
2 green or red peppers, depending on quality
nitrate-free pepperoni
whole milk mozzerella

I mix the veggies in with one packet of sauce the spread another packet of sauce on the pizza. Then I spoon the mixed ingredients on, coat generously with peperoni and cheeze, 13-15 minutes later, my dvd player is starting up a movie, and im enjoying a great pizza.
Anyone know of a nother good premade crust? All I can find is Bobli, and its darn expensive. I wanted to buy a bred maker and make/cook crusts then freeze them until needed. the sauce just takes too long. If I made a big batch of sauce I could possibly do it, but I dont mind Boboli, its actually pretty good. One difference between pizza sauce and plain tomato sauce is that it tastes sweeter.

One thing I cannot get is chicken on a pizza. call me traditional, but I wont even consider it. Oh and pineapple on a pizza? um nO!

 

[Jason Pancake]

whole milk mozzerella

Definitely much better than part-skim! I think once I get the sauce down I will have to try and find some mozzarella di bufala.

 

[Angelo.M]

My wife and I use this marinara recipe as the base for every red sauce we make, from bolognese sauce to vodka sauce to sauce for a pizza. We call it the KISS recipe: Keeping It Simple, Stupid.

olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of a large saucepan or medium pot
garlic, a lot
1 tsp sugar
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
a generous pinch of Italian sea salt

There are 2 keys to this sauce. The first is this: the garlic should be browned in the hot oil just long enough, and not long enough to burn. Burn the garlic and the sauce will be bitter. The second key is this: once the garlic is ready, add the other ingredients and stir at medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then, cover the pot and let the sauce cook for 30 minutes at low heat. We have a gas cooktop, so we can control heat nicely, but it shouldn't make a difference. Cooking the sauce over a low heat for a long time is the key.

Notice the lack of onions, spices and other acoutrements. This sauce doesn't need it. What you want is the taste of the tomato against the garlic, period. It is simply spectacular and will make an excellent base. Of course, we love basil and oregano and rosemary and chili pepper--and we add those for particular effect in certain sauces--but the KISS sauce alone is our staple. The most I might add to it for simple marinara is just a couple of leaves of torn basil.

When I was a kid, my grandmother would make this impeccably simple sauce (gravy, we called it) and then add a huge chunk of meat, maybe a pork loin or shoulder, some meatballs too, and cook it for what seemed like a day. Heaven.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I do something very similar Angelo and can vouch for the simplicity and excellence.


Perhaps it is time to post my Bolognese (ragu) recipe. Not at all simple, and it is time consuming, but so worth the effort.

 

[Mike SJ]

yummy!!! will definately try this one out

 

[Marshall Alsup]

Lew,
Heck yeah its time!! I REALLY enjoyed your sauce recipe above. I have used it about 4 times now and its been fantastic. The last couple times I added 3 anchovie filets because I think the ones I have are just a bit mellow.

Jason,
your dough is fantastic as well, I've been using it with Lew's sauce, perhpas I'll try it with your sauce next time.

Angelo,
I still haven't made your wife's bread, but I do LOVE focaccia and it looks soooo good. I think I'll do it next week. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Well, I'll be gone all weekend, I hope theres a certain Bolognese recipe when I get back.

Later guys,
Marshall

 

[Lew Crippen]

Marshall I'm glad the sauce worked out well for you. I put the Bologanese sauce in the pasta thread. I'm making this tomorrow.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Marcello, yet another thread, where you can see how some of us Americans view pizza.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Mmmmmm. When I was working at a Greek pizza shop, I came up with a wonderful pie I used to call the "Red Daisy". It was not only delicious, but also one of the more "delicate" pizzas our shop made.

Our crust was a simple one, made with flour, water, yeast, olive oil, and a little bit of salt.

Coat some whole garlic cloves in olive oil & roast them for a bit, until they're brown & squishy.

Roll out the dough and coat with olive oil. NO RED SAUCE this time.

Cover with roasted garlic cloves, diced tomato (or sliced Roma tomatoes), and chopped Kalamata olives. Cover with mozzarella (cheese on TOP according to the Greek tradition) and sprinkle with basil & oregano. The delicate toppings really bring out the flavor of the crust.

 

[Lew Crippen]

That really sounds good Rob—especially if the kitchen has a light hand with the mozzarella.

 

[Angelo.M]

Rob:

Sounds good, but wouldn't feta cheese be more appropriate for that pie? Also, a bit of roasted eggplant might also do nicely.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Angelo,

I tried feta and the result was too salty. I also tried sun-dried tomatoes in place of regular ones but they were too overpowering. Other than the Kalamata olives, all of the flavors in the pizza are very subtle. The eggplant might be a nice idea but we didn't always have it in stock. (It's also not to my taste, on a pizza anyway.)

But feel free to experiment!

 

[Rob Gardiner]

That really sounds good Rob—especially if the kitchen has a light hand with the mozzarella.

The kitchen, no. But me, personally, YES. My biggest complaint about my fellow pizza cooks was their tendency to load up on the toppings, especially the cheese. But I was the master of proper balance between the ingredients.

 

[Lew Crippen]

But I was the master of proper balance between the ingredients.

Would that more people were.

 

[Angelo.M]

Rob:

My wife and I make a similar pie. All of our pizzas use her dough recipe which is a relative of her focaccia bread recipe (to die for). Anyway, we make a pie that we've nicknamed the "Mediterranean", using diced Roma or Juliette tomatoes, roasted garlic, Kalamata olives, slivers of roasted eggplant, feta, ricotta and our own oregano from what we jokingly refer to as the "oregano bush" (seriously, you cannot kill an oregano plant, you can only hope to contain it). I agree that feta brings some salt to the party, so a sparing hand is key. Lately, we have taken to grilling this pie on our grill using a pizza stone, to nice effect.

If eggplant doesn't suit you, artichoke is a nice substitute.

Buona festa!

--AM

 

[Angelo.M]

My biggest complaint about my fellow pizza cooks was their tendency to load up on the toppings, especially the cheese.

Absolutely. As a rule, we routinely ask for "half the usual" cheese when we order a pie.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Absolutely. As a rule, we routinely ask for "half the usual" cheese when we order a pie.

So do we Angelo.

We are big fans of eggplant in gneeral and in toppings as well.

(I make a great eggplant pasta)

 

[Jimi C]

What was the best pizza you have ever had?

Give city and name of the restaurant.

and dont say pizza hut.. unless you live in pheonix, because ive had pizza in pheonix.. and.. i wished i was at pizza hut.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Before I moved to Seattle, I lived in a small town in northern California called Ukiah. There was a shop called House of Pizza (long gone, unfortunately). They had 3 types of crust. For certain pies, the cornmeal-based deep dish was the way to go (almost like cornbread, but it tastes better than it sounds). Not at all like the traditional Chicago deep dish. My favorite pie on this type of crust was the Cajun. (The owner was originally from Louisiana, although he spent many years in New York and other places.) The toppings were: ham, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, shrimp, cajun sausage, and cajun seasoning. Jalapenos were optional but I never cared for them. My roommates were very pleased whenever I brought this home.

Mmmm. Cajun pizza, the beer of the root, and Star Trek TNG. Those were the days, my friends.

 

[Philip_G]

Ragu used to sell dough mix in a can, super easy to use, add water, knead, let raise for 20 minutes and roll out.
I used to use it a lot, as well as their pizza sauce, but I haven't seen the crust in a can mix in ages :frowning: