(Looks like this topic had 20 posts in 2016…time to revisit.)
Sure, there are thousands of take out and dine in choices but when you crave a pizza of your own making what do you use?
Whats your go to… Crust, sauce, cheese and toppings? Are you a purist, a clean out the frig opportunist or an experimenter?
Me, I make the dough the day before, use my wifes Sunday gravy and burrata cheese. Out of the oven, I top with ripped fresh basil or light greens and a drizzle of olive oil. I have a pizza stone I preheat for 30 mins, my oven only goes to 550 before the wallpaper in the dining room starts to peel😁
Pizza is a quickie cheater’s meal in our household - and rare. TJ’s frozen naan is the base, usually with TJ’s canned organic marinara as the sauce, topped with mozz cheese. Sometimes I’ll add wing sauce, chicken, and blue cheese crumbles. We have even swapped spinach paneer (also TJ’s) for the red sauce - I think also adding chunks of their frozen Indian lamb entree (can’t remember - it’s been a while).
Nothing authentic, but tasty and works in a pinch. We go out for good pizza.
Quality flatbread base + smoked bbq sauce + chicken marinated in pineapple vinegar and jalapeño olive oil + red onion + grated Monerey Jack and cheddar + drizzle of bbq sauce and cilantro when done.
What a find first thing my mom let me cook with her assistance . A long long long time ago. I got the pizza pan they sold also . I had that forever . It finally gave out after 40 yrs
Naan warmed in a dry pan. Whisk two eggs and make a simple omelette, fold to fit top of naan. Crumble cooked bacon and grated cheese of choice. Bake in 350 oven until cheese melts. If I have leftover roasted potatoes I might add those on top too.
I guess I’m more toward the “purist” end of the spectrum. We are looking forward to cooler temperatures mid-Fall when the pizza steel comes out the shed. It gets put there mid-Spring.
Dough is slow fermented for 18 hours, then portioned and cold-fermented in the fridge. I start using it the next day, but it’s usually best on day 3 or 4. Unless I messed up somewhere, I will hand shape it. The sauce in our “house pizza” is a garlicky bechamel. I top that with some green like arugula. On top of that a melting cheese, like Fontina or Mozarella, then topped with sliced red onion and very thinly sliced lemon.
Preheat steel for an hour at 575. Start the broiler for 5 minutes and throw in the pie. After it comes out, I’ll top it with ricotta or feta, then drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Pizzas, pizzas, pizzas.
If you anyone remembers me from Chowhound, it’s that I love pizzas.
I used to make homemade pizza a lot, using a lot of different doughs, but my favorite pizza dough is Alton Brown’s. It puffs up beautifully and has a nice chewy texture.
No real secrets to share, I’m a believer that a slow rise creates a tastier dough, I do 16-24 hours.
My favorite is pizza and mushrooms with homemade red sauce. I like pepperoni’s underneath and mushrooms on top, sprinkle oregano on top. Not very photogenic but it’s my favorite to-cook pie.
Here’s a pic of the same pizza but with pepperoni on top
That crust is really gorgeous.
And here’s some from past COTMs, here the famous White Pizza from Polpo
Here is Gjelina’s Asaparagus, Fontina and Sunny-side Egg pizza. This is surprisingly delicious, maybe my favorite.
I also recommend Gjelina’s spinach pizza.
There’s many others I can’t find photos for, another favorite is clam pizza. I’ll add to this thread as I find them.
Outstanding pixs. Thxs for the AB dough link. Any personal secrets to your dough making you want to share? How hot an oven do you use? Do you mix diff cheeses in the same pie? Do you like cold pizza…lol…just curious.
Wow- very impressive!!
There’s a destination worthy pizza here at Martina that is just a boatload of mushrooms, they slice them crazy thin so some are chewy and some actually get crispy. Their crust is crazy thin, a bit thinner than i like it but they’re accommodating and don’t give me attitude about omitting the cheese (unlike elsewhere!) and it’s a great size, basically a meal plus one slice to take home for breakfast :))
Thanks! Pizza is second nature to me, so I may have omitted a bunch of details that aren’t as obvious to novices. Give me a few days to put something together, it’s too early for me to think right now!
