Homemade Pizza

Ben spent much of high school working at a pizza booth on the weekends and learned how to make the most excellent pizzas - his sauce is unbelievable and his dough spinning looks professional. Though we don't have a pizza stone, he makes us awesome pizzas (that I get to decorate) a few times a month. Having a homemade pizza with choose your own toppings night can be an awesome entertaining tool, cheap date-night, or perfect meal-with-left-overs. 

As I don't expect everyone to want to wait around for dough to rise (nor do I expect you all to have a boyfriend so skilled in the arts of pizza making), I'm going to suggest you buy those Boboli pre-made crusts from Safeway that are actually remarkably delicious, and/or buy the pre-made dough from a local niche supermarket.

We have two favorite pizzas that we like to make. The first is a mushroom and red onion pizza. Ben makes a red sauce by adding a healthy dash of rosemary olive oil to a small can can of tomato sauce, and an assortment of herbs (think oregano, basil). We then smother the pizza in a combo of mozzarella and pepper jack cheese (though in a pinch, either/or will do) and top with sliced brown mushrooms and sliced red onions. Voila. Ben cooks our pizza at hot temperatures (450 degrees for 5 minutes on the lower rack and then 5 minutes on the upper) but if you're using a pre-made crust, follow those directions. Top with Cholula, because why not, and you're good to go. 

The second pizza is a bit less traditional and is pictured on the left hand side of the above photo. It's my personal favorite. It's a salad pizza that's super light and refreshing. Ben uses the left-over crust from the first pizza and we brush it with rosemary infused olive oil instead of red sauce. We then cover it in cheese (though we often use pepper jack and mozzarella as it's already been shredded, it's way more awesome with a goat cheese blend) and pop it in the oven for about 10 minutes at high heat (see the mushroom pizza cooking nstructions for more info). Once it's out, we toss up a mixed green salad (the stronger the mix, the better the pizza - arugula and spinach works best, but any kind of spring mixed greens will do) dressed in simple champagne vinegar (or lemon) and olive oil, kosher salt and ground black pepper and dump it on the pizza while it's hot. The salad wilts, gets warm and cheesy, and you have a light, delicious salad pizza. 

If you have favorite toppings, please share - we're always looking for inspiration!