Home Made Pizza

We had a voucher for 50% off a pizza order from Pizza Hut a couple of weeks ago, and Paul had been hankering for some pizza delivery for a while. So we ordered a couple of pizzas for dinner one night, and it was quite the disappointment. After that experience, added upon other pizza delivery experiences, that I would much rather make my own pizza. Not only is it WAY cheaper, it tastes so much better, and I can make it just how I like it.

Making pizza at home can be somewhat time consuming, or super fast and easy. It all depends on how much time you have, and what you feel like. You can make a pizza in minutes is you use pita bread, French bread, or pre-made pizza bases. For the sauce, just mix some tomato puree/paste with a bit of water, herbs and season to taste; or use barbecue sauce, or Thai-sweet chilli sauce, or even no sauce at all. For the toppings, the sky's the limit!

If I have the time, I usually make my own pizza dough, using this whole wheat pizza dough recipe as my starting point. I usually double it, and use a slightly different technique to ensure a nice chewy crust, (maybe someday, I'll make a video of how I do it).

Then, I add whatever sauce/topping I feel inspired to use (or whatever I have on hand or need to get rid of).

Today, I made three different pizzas. The first was kind of a supreme style. Red sauce, chopped yellow bell peppers (hidden under the cheese so my boys wouldn't pick it off), courgette, sliced black olives, caramelized onions, and sausage. Really yummy pizza, and one I knew my boys would love. The great thing about pizza is that it is easily customizable. If one person doesn't like a certain topping, just leave it off of 1/4 of the pizza.

The second pizza is one of my favourites. I got the recipe from my Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home cookbook: Garlic and Green pizza. Basically, you saute chopped garlic in some olive oil, add chopped greens (usually kale, today I also added rocket and spinach), add sun dried tomatoes, some basil (fresh or dried), and season to taste. Place this on the pizza base (no sauce), and cover with cheese. It is really good.

My third pizza was my invention pizza for the day:

Caramelized Onion and Pear Pizza

Place sliced pear on the pizza base, top with caramelized onions, and cheese (Cheshire/feta/blue cheese, as well as some cheddar/mozzarella). Top with rocket after baking (optional).

I actually really enjoyed this pizza, although next time I will use a little less pear, and more onions. I used a mix of cheddar cheese and Cheshire (similar to a mild feta cheese). I think a Stilton or other blue cheese sprinkled on would go really nicely. The onions were not completely caramelized, but cooked until just starting to colour, since they will cook even more on the pizza. The Rocket added a really nice touch, and gave it some needed colour.