Pizza Night
Friday night homemade pizza was a thing in our house. My mom would make it in both round and rectangular pans, and it was always amazing. I made pizza every once in a while when we were first married and the kids were younger, but got out of the habit as life got busy and, more importantly, a couple of family members developed gluten sensitivities. We started using flour from Sunrise Flour Mills this year. This ancient grain is much easier on everyone’s stomach. With this wonderful find, we decided to give homemade pizza a try once again.
We turned this pizza prep into a fun family event. We made enough dough to make six pizzas, each nine inches in diameter. Since we wanted to try many different topping combinations, this was the perfect way to do it. There were lots of leftovers, but that was all part of the plan! While the dough was rising, we prepared all the toppings. We gathered thinly sliced garden tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh oregano, green onions, cilantro, barbeque sauce, shredded mozzarella, sliced fresh mozzarella, and tomato sauce. We also sauteed mushrooms, chicken strips, red onions, and made homemade pesto. Finally, we pulled out the pepperoni, shredded parmesan and grated romano cheeses, dried basil, dried oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
We stretched the dough into circles and placed them on parchment paper lined with a little semolina (or corn) flour to prevent sticking to our kitchen island. Four of the pizzas were placed on sheet pans and baked in the oven. The other two pizzas were grilled on a preheated pizza stone.
Take a look at these beauties! We loved the texture and crust of the grilled pizza as it reminded us of a flatbread or naan. The flavor of each of these pies was amazing, and we had a blast pulling it all together.
Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1 lb Pizza or White Flour (approx 450 grams)
- 1-2 tsp salt
- 10-12 ounces warm (75-80°) water
- 1 tsp active dry or instant yeast
Instructions
- Measure flour and salt into a mixing bowl
- Add yeast to the warm water (75-80°F) in another bowl. Mix a little to get rid of the lumps. Let sit for a few minutes or until foamy.
- Stir the water and yeast into the flour mixture. Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. Wet your hands before kneading.
- Cover and let sit on the counter for 1- 2 hours until it doubles in size. During this proofing time, the dough will rise. If it's cooler in your kitchen (below 70°F), allow it to rise for closer to 2 hours. If it's warmer, it may only take one hour.
- Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured counter and begin shaping your pizza dough balls. Divide the dough into three equal balls for the three 9” crusts. Round them into balls, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let rest 1-2 hours or until the dough balls double in size again.
- Heat the oven or grill and pizza stone to 450°F for at least 30 minutes. Make sure your stone is rated for high heat. If using pizza pans, lightly oil.
- While the oven/grill is pre-heating, stretch the dough into 9 inch circles by pressing gently and/or picking up and using gravity to stretch it out.
- BAKING: Place the stretched pizza dough on a lightly oiled baking sheet or a pizza peel (or the back of a baking sheet) if using a preheated stone. Top with your favorite combination of toppings. Bake for 8-15 minutes. Keep a close eye on the pizza. It may take less or more time depending on the diameter and thickness of your dough and your toppings.GRILLING: If using a grill, you can place the stretched out dough on the preheated pizza stone on the grill for 3-4 minutes, then flip it, top it, and finish grilling for another 3-4 minutes.
Notes
Pizza Party – BBQ Chicken Pizza, Pesto Pizza, Pizza Margherita and more
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- homemade or store-bought
BBQ Chicken Pizza
- BBQ sauce – we used Carolina Gold
- cooked chopped chicken breast
- shredded mozzarella cheese
- chopped green onions
- chopped fresh cilantro
Pizza Margherita
- crushed or pureed tomatoes, canned or fresh
- garlic powder, salt and pepper
- thinly sliced chunks of mozzarella cheese
- thinly sliced tomato
- torn basil leaves
Pesto Veggie Pizza
- pesto, store bought or homemade
- shredded mozzarella cheese
- shredded parmesan cheese
- sauteed mushrooms
- sauteed onions
- salt and pepper
Pesto Chicken Tomato Pizza
- pesto, store bought or homemade
- cooked chopped chicken
- thinly sliced tomato
- shredded and sliced mozzarella cheese
- shredded parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
- finish with drizzle of olive oil
Pepperoni and Mushroom Pizza
- crushed or pureed tomatoes, canned or fresh can also use your favorite jarred pasta sauce
- dried oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper
- mozzarella cheese, shredded and/or sliced fresh
- sauteed mushrooms
- pepperoni
- fresh basil
- fresh oregano
- finish with drizzle of olive oil
Three Cheese Pizza with (or without) Pepperoni
- red sauce
- mozzarella cheese, shredded and/or sliced fresh
- dried basil, dried oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper
- pepperoni (optional)
- grated romano cheese
- grated parmesan cheese
- fresh oregano and basil, chopped
- drizzle of olive oil
Instructions
- Heat the oven or grill and pizza stone to 425-450°F for at least 30 minutes. Make sure your stone is rated for high heat. If using pizza pans, lightly oil.
- Prepare dough and allow it to rise according to the homemade dough directions.
- If using store bought dough, make sure you take it out of the fridge and allow it to rise. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours. Place in a sunny window to speed up the process.
- Stretch pizza dough on a stone/pan
- Top with tomatoes/red sauce, pesto, or BBQ sauce depending on the pizza.
- Top with veggies, meat, cheeses, spices. Add herbs if desired.
- Bake or grill at 425-450° for 8-15 minutes
- BAKING: Place the stretched pizza dough on a lightly oiled baking sheet or a pizza peel (or the back of a baking sheet) if using a preheated stone. Top with your favorite combination of toppings. Bake for 8-15 minutes for a 9 inch pizza. Keep a close eye on the pizza. It may take less or more time depending on the diameter and thickness of your dough and your toppings.GRILLING: If using a grill, you can place the stretched out dough on the preheated pizza stone on the grill for 3-4 minutes, then flip it, top it, and finish grilling for another 3-4 minutes.
- Add additional fresh herbs once the pizza has cooked to brighten up the flavor. Fresh basil and/or parsley are wonderful on the tomato sauce/pesto based pizzas. Fresh cilantro, parsley and/or chopped green onions really brighten up the flavor of the BBQ sauce based pizza.