Homemade Pizza
By Joseph Wittwer, special to Mormonchic.com

Though I am tempted to describe the number of boxes of macaroni & cheese my family has eaten in terms of the earth's circumference, I have to give my mom a lot of credit for finding enough time to make an impressive variety of healthy and interesting foods. Looking back, I have no doubt that the evolution of my quality-quickly approach to cooking began in her kitchen. Today I am most impressed by recipes and techniques that are both fast and successful.

As a child, a primary song taught me the value of a solid foundation. Even as the Wiseman built his house upon the rock, so too should wise chefs build their pizzas upon good crusts. Frozen pizzas from the grocery store have crusts whose texture rivals the finest corrugated cardboard. At their best, these crusts have the appeal of moistened saltine crackers. In my mind this goes a long to explain the success of my mother's pizzas, whose crusts were based on her recipe for dinner rolls. Everyone loved her pizzas, despite their sparse economy of toppings, because the crusts were so delicious. Of course, making pizza wouldn't appeal to me at all if I had to make the crust from scratch each time. To eliminate the hassle, I have turned to pre-baked Boboli crusts. These are just about as good as any hand made crust I have had, and can be stored in your fridge for as long as a week.

Although a good pizza must have a good crust, even a great crust can never be a good pizza unless it has good toppings. Most important is the amount of sauce that you use. Because its flavor can be so overwhelming, I never use more than three or four tablespoons. That is usually just enough to cover the surface of the crust, but still be able to see it through the sauce. Any red pasta sauce will get the job done, but I like the sauce made especially for pizza by Ragu. I've also had some luck experimenting with alternatives to the red sauce standard such as a white alfredo sauce or cream of mushroom soup.

It's a good idea to use several kinds of cheese on your pizza. Mozzarella is my staple and I tend to stay away from cheddar because it gets really oily when it melts. Most groceries sell an Italian mix of shredded cheese, and this works very well. I have learned that a little bit of meat goes a long way in a pizza. As a rule of thumb, I never use more than 16 to 24 pieces per pizza. While cooking, juices from the meat will disperse to flavor the entire pizza. My favorite vegetables for pizzas are tomatoes, red peppers and green peppers, but I'm also quite fond of mushrooms and red onions. I tend to use about one tomato and one quarter of each pepper in every pizza I make. The important thing to remember is that they be sliced as thin as possible. Thick vegetable slices won't cook all the way through and will take away from the overall cohesion of the pizza. For a nice effect, I like to place tomato slices on the top layer of the pizza and sprinkle them with a little bit of cheese. Not only does this look appealing, it also keeps the moisture of the tomatoes away from the crust to prevent sogginess.

Using a pre-baked crust such as Boboli makes the process pizza making fast, reliable and easy enough for anyone to do really well. The time you save on the crust may be applied to a little extra care slicing your vegetables. Of course, the combinations of sauces and vegetables that you can use are without number. Generally, if the ingredients sound like they will go well together, they probably will. Once the pizza is put together, it only needs to bake for eight to fifteen minutes at 450 degrees. You'll know it's done when the cheese on top begins to turn golden brown in small patches. To ensure a clean cut, I suggest letting your pizza cool for at least three minutes... if you can!

Mom's Pizza Dough

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon oil (optional)

Dissolve yeast in cup of warm water. Mix remaining ingredients together and pour water yeast mixture over top; mix well. Knead dough on floured surface (will need additional flour for dough). Let sit for 5 min. in a warm spot.

Top with favorite pizza toppings and bake for 10-12 minutes at 375°F.

Whole Wheat
Pizza Dough

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup bread flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon rapid-rise dried yeast
1/2-2/3 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon olive oil

Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir in yeast. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the water and oil and mix with a spoon to a soft dough.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Punch down the dough. Turn on to a lightly floured surface and knead again for 2-3 minutes. Roll out as required and place on a greased baking sheet. Pinch up the dough along sides to make a rim. The dough is now ready for toppings.

RC NOTE: You may need to add a little extra water to form a soft dough, depending on the absorbency of your wheat flour.

Recipe from "50 Quick and Easy Pizzas" by Shirley Gill.

Reader Tip

I make pizza for my family about once or twice a week, and have discovered that homemade pizza crusts taste better if the crust is baked 8-10 minutes before it's topped, and then top it and bake
it again. This also makes the pizza less soggy. - Amy

Pizza Toppings

Vegetables:
tomatoes
bell peppers
hot chilies
red/yellow/white onion
shallots
mushrooms
asparagus
potatoes
garlic
leeks
baby eggplant
spinach
avocado
zucchini

Meat and Fish:
pancetta
sausages
chorizo
dressed crab
shrimp
mixed seafood
pepperoni
chicken
ground beef
smoked ham/salmon
prosciutto

Cheeses:
Cheddar
Edam
Feta
Goats cheese
Gorgonzola piccante
Mozzarella
Parmesan
Pecorino
Red Leicester
Ricotta
Sage Blue
Smoked Cheddar
Smoked Gouda
Smoked Mozzarella

Listing from "50 Quick and Easy Pizzas" by Shirley Gill.