Homemade (Almost!) Pizza

I love pizza and less than ten years ago, I wondered how difficult it would be to make a homemade pizza that you could make to your liking with a flavorful crust of the right texture. I experimented with my own crusts that I made from scratch and with the help of an electric bread maker (does anyone remember those ancient pieces of kitchen equipment?!). They were good; better than frozen, but the crust lacked the taste I was after. One day at the grocery store, I came across pizza dough in plastic baggies from a local bakery in Milwaukee: Peter Sciortino Bakery. I gave it a whirl and it has been my go-to pizza dough ever since. It imparts an easy to work with and stretchy dough that bakes up crispy on the bottom and edges and it softly bubbles within the pizza sauce and toppings. The dough costs $2.00 a pound, so it is a reasonably priced necessity.  I can find it at Sendik’s and Metcalfe’s markets in Wauwatosa, WI. My furry friend Holly has made her second appearance in this post. It is nice to have the clean-up crew attentively waiting for her next mission! I will go step by step with how I assemble this scrumptious and streamlined version of homemade pizza. So, open the vino or a frosty brew and enjoy!

Fresh Ingredients:

1 lb sausage (I use Johnsonville Sweet Italian sausage), 1 lb fresh pizza dough, 8 oz fresh white mushrooms, 1 green pepper, and any other fresh veggies or meats you desire

Prep: 15 mins • Cook: 20-30 mins • Total: 45 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 lb sausage, cooked and drained on paper towels
• 1 t olive oil
• 1 T corn meal
• 1 lb pizza dough
• 8 oz can of pizza sauce (I use Pastorelli)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 oz fresh white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 medium green pepper, diced

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. In a large fry pan, cook sausage until no longer pink; drain in a paper towel-lined bowl and set aside.
3. Prepare the veggies, place in a bowl, and set aside.
4. Prepare a pizza stone (mine is from Pampered Chef) by applying the olive oil over the surface of it with your fingers or a paper towel. Apply the corn meal over the olive oil with your fingers or the paper towel and set aside.
5. Remove the dough from the baggie and stretch the dough over the surface of the pizza stone with your fingers. This works better than rolling it out, in my opinion.
6. Open the can of pizza sauce and spoon it out over the dough evenly spreading it out and leaving about an inch or so of dough at the edge without sauce.
7. Sprinkle some cheese over the sauce.
8. Begin topping your pizza how you like; layering the ingredients and finishing with a topping of cheese.
9. Place the pizza stone with your masterpiece on a lower rack in the oven.
10. Cook for at least 20 mins or until the crust on the edges is browned and the cheese is lightly browned.
11. Remove, slice, and enjoy!