Here is one of our personal Recipe Aid favorites – A Pizza Dough Recipe – along with the actual pizza recipes to go along with it! After all, pizza crust by itself isn’t all that exciting right? Who doesn’t like great Pizza? Kids and adults alike warm up immediately to these luscious pizzas.

Here’s the secret to a great pizza: every good pizza starts with a great pizza crust. And a great pizza crust always begins with a fantastic pizza dough recipe. So here we go. We are going to start with the pizza dough recipe and then add ingredients to create the very best home made pizza available anywhere. We are not talking Domino’s Pizza or Little Caesar’s Pizza here. We are talking mouth watering, lip smacking home made pizza that will make you the envy of your entire neighborhood. And as always, the key to your success is in the pizza dough. So let’s talk Pizza Dough Recipe for dummies – it is pretty fool proof. I can personally vouch for that!

Pizza Dough Recipe

1 package dry yeast (1 Tbsp)
1 Cup and 2 Tbsp warm water
2 Tbsp butter, softened
½ tsp salt
3 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, salt, and butter.  Add flour and knead until a soft dough forms.  Let rise for10 minutes. Grease and cornmeal pizza pans. Pans can be cookie sheets or traditional round pizza pans. Divide dough in half and spread half of dough onto each of two pans.  Press down to desired thickness and push to edges to cover entire pan.  Bake for about 5-8 minutes at 350 degrees then remove from oven. Leave oven on.  Pre-cooking the crusts helps avoid soggy crusts. Don’t overdo. For a crispier crust pre-cook crust for about 10 minutes.

Assembling Pizzas

Top slightly cooked crusts with sauce mixture (below) and cover with a layer of cheddar cheese. Then add additional desired ingredients. Top with grated mozzarella cheese. Return to oven and bake for and additional 10-20 minutes. We like to make half and half pizzas – half of the pizza can be one variety and half can be another variety. For two pizzas this would yield 4 varieties!  Lots of fun!

Pizza Sauce Recipe:

2 cans (8 oz) tomato sauce
2 Tbsp Oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning (optional)
1-2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese (optional)
¼ tsp black pepper (to taste)
¼ tsp salt (to taste)

Mix thoroughly and spread liberally over dough mixture prior to adding cheese and other ingredients.

Pizza Recipe Ingredients:

Try some of the following combinations for a nice variety of pizzas:

1. Cheese (Mozzarella, cheddar mixture)
2. Pepperoni (you can buy pre-sliced pepperoni at most supermarkets)
3. Sausage (Jimmy Dean or other pork sausage cooked and spread liberally over pizza)
4. Pepperoni and Sausage – spread sausage over entire pizza or half of pizza then layer pepperoni on top
5. Canadian Bacon and Pineapple – Use canned pineapple tidbits (well drained) and Canadian bacon slices cut into smallish pieces. Canadian bacon can be purchased at the supermarket.
6.  Barbeque Chicken and sliced red onions. Cook chicken breasts in advance and cut into small pieces. Brush with barbeque sauce and add to pizza. We generally replace the tomato sauce on the crust with a light layer of barbeque sauce then layer cheese, chicken and red onions and top with mozzarella cheese. Be careful not to get too much barbeque sauce on the crust – just a light layer will do.
7.  Other ingredients:  Add mushrooms, onions, olives, anchovies, and anything else that strikes your fancy to any of the pizzas.