Best Ingredients For Homemade Pizza

[ColdFusion718]

Originally posted by: Phokus
Buy the huge $7.99 pizza at costco, put it in the oven, and voila, tasty pizza

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
I make a pizza with no sauce using sliced roma tomatos, 1 chopped jalepeno pepper, some chopped green onion, a few cloves of roasted garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Simmer that for 30 minutes instead of refrigerating it and you have a near perfect pizza sauce.

Basically, your "sauceless" pizza is just all sauce.

:laugh:
I just tried Papa Murphy's gourmet chicken with the white garlic sauce, it was pretty good (except some spots seemed to have much more garlic flavor than others)

 

[new2AMD]

Originally posted by: BooGiMaN
has anyone made pizza on a bbq grill using a pizza stone?

can you just set the stone directly ont he grill?

Ive made pizza plenty of times on the grill. No stone. Just put the dough (oiled) on the grill and cook for a few minutes. Take it off while its still a bit soft and put the toppings on. (sauce cheese and what not) Place it back onto the grill to complete the cooking. voila.

 

[ColdFusion718]

Originally posted by: Triforceofcourage
I made a pizza last night for dinner and it just tasted kind of bland. It wasn't bad but it definitely wasn't great. I bought Boboli pizza dough, Ragu plain tomatoe sauce and Sargenta mozzarella cheese. The GF doesn't like anything in her sauce so plain tomatoe sauce has to stay.

Any suggestions?

Kiss your free will good bye.

 

[Ramma2]

Someone post a tried and true dough recipe already so I can make this tonight.

 

[49erinnc]

We definitely prefer making our own dough (whole wheat). However, if you are in a pinch or don't like the mess, you can actually go to a fast food pizza place and buy just a ball of pizza dough that has already risen. I detest Ci-Ci's pizza but their raw dough is pretty good, super cheap and they will sell it to you. Just comes wrapped up on a piece of plastic wrap. Take it home, roll it out and it's good to go. We've gone that route before when we wanted fresh dough but didn't want to make a mess or allow time for rising.

And as others have said, definitely do not use spaghetti sauce. Pizza sauce tends to have more spices, including more sugar/salt for a better flavor. Easily found in any grocery store if you don't want to make your own from scratch. Making pizza is a great thing to do with your SO. Lot of fun and super yummy.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Simple solution, cut the Boboli in half before cooking. Your GF can have the plain sauce and you can jazz yours up a bit. Add a lot of garlic, oregano and whatever else you like. It's not hard to take ordinary plain jar sauce and turn it into something tasty.

 

[Nutdotnet]

I've used Boboli once and have made my own dough a few times...my dough is MUCH better but the Boboli is actually not all that bad.

Anyway, if she doesn't like "Pizza Sauce" then why not make a Pizza w/o Pizza Sauce? Yeah, crazy, I know.

I've made BBQ Chicken Pizza w/ Avacado & Bacon. I use "Sweet Baby Ray's" Honey BBQ Sauce instead of Pizza Sauce. This Pizza is restaraunt worthy.

Oh and a Pizza stone is a must! It even makes frozon Pizza taste really, really, good!

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: dullard
Simmer that for 30 minutes instead of refrigerating it and you have a near perfect pizza sauce.

simmering for 30 minutes will kill it. crushed tomatoes added to minced garlic/onion/spices that's been sweating in olive oil and stirred a little bit is best. it'll need some sugar/honey, but it'll be good. don't forget it'll cook in the oven too.



me, i like a little lamb sausage, roasted garlic, caramelized onions, goat cheese, and sun dried tomatoes on a pizza.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I've found that the whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's is excellent. Add some diced tomatoes and other veggies, mozzarella cheese, etc...great pizza

 

[wheresmybacon]

Originally posted by: Triforceofcourage
I made a pizza last night for dinner and it just tasted kind of bland. It wasn't bad but it definitely wasn't great. I bought Boboli pizza dough, Ragu plain tomatoe sauce and Sargenta mozzarella cheese. The GF doesn't like anything in her sauce so plain tomatoe sauce has to stay.

Any suggestions?

more cowbell

 

[ponyo]

You can substitute and use pesto or ricotta as a base sauce instead of the traditional tomato based pizza sauce. One of my favorite combo is pesto as pizza sauce topped with spinach, garlic, sliced roma tomatoes, artichoke hearts, broccoli, grilled chicken, cheese, and sprinkled lightly with basil and oregano.

Also I like to wait and let the pizza cook halfway with meat and cheese only before adding any veggies. I find if you add veggies in the beginning, pizza tend to be little soggy from the liquid released by the vegetables. Soggy pizza is nasty pizza IMO.

 

[Kaido]

tagged for later

 

[BlancoNino]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
I remember when I was a kid, I used ketchup. Family didn't let me cook dinner for years.

LOL

 

[RiverDog]

Originally posted by: Ramma2
Someone post a tried and true dough recipe already so I can make this tonight.

I second that, the sauce is no problem, I have problems making any good dough. (I know, get a better job) All mine seems flat and doesn't even come close to a pizza shop type. Damn I'm hungry for good pizza now!

 

[GagHalfrunt]

The secret to good dough is to use flour with a high gluten content, to knead it well and to bake it on a good pizza stone or at least a perforated pan very close to the heat source. High gluten flour that's been well-worked is the key, all-purpose flour won't be the same. If you can't find good flour and if you don't have a quality stand mixer with dough hooks to give it a good kneading the best bet is to contact your local pizza place and just buy dough from them. You can also get it at supermarkets that make pizza in-house.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Ramma2
Someone post a tried and true dough recipe already so I can make this tonight.

4 cups flour (many people recommend King Arthur flour, but I honestly have never been able to tell the difference)
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons yeast

I use my breadmaker to make the dough - it has a dough setting, and it takes care of all of the kneeding and warms the dough slightly so it takes less time to rise (total time is 1:20 to make a batch of dough). You could also use a stand mixer or kneed it by hand. I'm not sure about the rising time if you do it that way... I usually kneed it once an hour for 3 or 4 hours based on the recipe my grandfather gave me.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Naustica
You can substitute and use pesto or ricotta as a base sauce instead of the traditional tomato based pizza sauce. One of my favorite combo is pesto as pizza sauce topped with spinach, garlic, sliced roma tomatoes, artichoke hearts, broccoli, grilled chicken, cheese, and sprinkled lightly with basil and oregano.

Also I like to wait and let the pizza cook halfway with meat and cheese only before adding any veggies. I find if you add veggies in the beginning, pizza tend to be little soggy from the liquid released by the vegetables. Soggy pizza is nasty pizza IMO.

I like pesto as a sauce too, I do one with pesto, mozz, sopressata and thinly sliced onion.

I agree soggy pizza is nasty, but when you put as much stuff as you have listed above on one pie, it's tough to avoid! That's alotta toppings!

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: mugs
4 cups flour (many people recommend King Arthur flour, but I honestly have never been able to tell the difference)
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons yeast

I use basically the same recipe. I posted it once here, but I can't find it and I don't have my recipe database here. I'm fairly certain I use 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup olive oil though (double what you posted). Everything else is the same.

Oh, and to make it MUCH better, don't just use any old flour. Use bread flour. GagHalfrunt was right. You need higher glutten to make a fluffy dough. Take the recipe above, and it'll make two pizzas ~14" diameter and up to 1/2" thick if you use enough glutten.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
The secret to good dough is to use flour with a high gluten content, to knead it well and to bake it on a good pizza stone or at least a perforated pan very close to the heat source. High gluten flour that's been well-worked is the key, all-purpose flour won't be the same. If you can't find good flour and if you don't have a quality stand mixer with dough hooks to give it a good kneading the best bet is to contact your local pizza place and just buy dough from them. You can also get it at supermarkets that make pizza in-house.

:thumbsup: That's the most important thing for good dough. (besides a good recipe.) I've got an excellent recipe that I've used to make 10's of 1000's of pizzas. Unfortunately, the first ingredient is a 50 pound bag of flour. The second ingredient is a girl's softball size of shortening, followed by about that much salt. (a particular cup I have) Then, while it's mixing dry for 20 minutes, dissolve the yeast in warm water. About that much yeast. (I can eyeball it to within 1/4 oz, but can't remember how many ounces) Then fill the bucket the rest of the way to the top and slowly pour it into the mixer, while resetting it to 20 minutes. Add water a little bit at a time, as needed, so that it forms a nice nipple while mixing around the 10 minute mark. At 7 minutes remaining, add about 8 oz of olive oil. When it's done mixing, ut it in a large container to rise for about an hour. Rub olive oil on it to keep it from drying out... Then, cut out portion sizes of dough. Let them rise again for about 30 minutes. Then hand toss.

Since you don't know how big my bucket is, or my cups for yeast and salt, you're out of luck. P.S. Sugar in dough?! Blasphemy! Sugar added to the sauce? Egads! It's freakin pizza, not candy. If you use good quality ingredients, you don't need sugar. If you want to use crappy tomato sauce for a base and add sugar, just go to Little Caesars. (They rapidly went out of business in our city.)

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: mugs
4 cups flour (many people recommend King Arthur flour, but I honestly have never been able to tell the difference)
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons yeast

I use basically the same recipe. I posted it once here, but I can't find it and I don't have my recipe database here. I'm fairly certain I use 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup oil though (double what you posted). Everything else is the same.

Oh, and to make it MUCH better, don't just use any old flour. Use bread flour. GagHalfrunt was right. You need higher glutten to make a fluffy dough. Take the recipe above, and it'll make two pizzas ~14" diameter and up to 1/2" thick if you use enough glutten.

I make it really thin, I believe I've gotten as many as 9 14" pizzas out of that recipe. But I usually don't do that. For me and the wife I usually make two thin pies and by that point the stone is hot enough so I make a New York style. Or sometimes I use the stone to makes some breadsticks or garlic knots. I've never managed to make a garlic knot that can compare to what I can get at a local place though.

 

[Mellman]

I made pizza last night, it was awesome. I use 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour and 2.5 cups of white flour, all whole wheat makes the crust too dry, but the 50% mix makes it outstanding. I also add garlic salt, basil, oregano, and olive oil to the dough...and then cornmeal on the pizza stone.

the only sugar i add to my pizza is about 1 tsp in the yeast/water mixture. I also use a food processor to knead my dough, much easier than the crap mixer i had at school.

And I personally prefer spaghetti sauce (homemade with meat in it) to the canned pizza sauce, but i can make a good homemade pizza sauce too...

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: mugs
I make it really thin, I believe I've gotten as many as 9 14" pizzas out of that recipe. But I usually don't do that.

Ah, that is why you probably don't see the difference in your flour. I personally like to have enough dough so I can pile on the toppings 1+ inch thick. Thin pizza = only little toppings can be used = less topping taste. Seems backwards, but thats the way it is. Plus, I'm a huge bread lover, I'll eat bread any time and any day.

I can't help with garlic knots. All of my knot attempts (pretzels usually) don't come out as good as the store either.

 

[Howard]

http://forums.shoryuken.com/showpost.php?p=3283137&postcount=10

Even if you don't follow this recipe, there's probably a lot you can learn.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
The secret to good dough is to use flour with a high gluten content, to knead it well and to bake it on a good pizza stone or at least a perforated pan very close to the heat source. High gluten flour that's been well-worked is the key, all-purpose flour won't be the same. If you can't find good flour and if you don't have a quality stand mixer with dough hooks to give it a good kneading the best bet is to contact your local pizza place and just buy dough from them. You can also get it at supermarkets that make pizza in-house.

:thumbsup: That's the most important thing for good dough. (besides a good recipe.) I've got an excellent recipe that I've used to make 10's of 1000's of pizzas. Unfortunately, the first ingredient is a 50 pound bag of flour. The second ingredient is a girl's softball size of shortening, followed by about that much salt. (a particular cup I have) Then, while it's mixing dry for 20 minutes, dissolve the yeast in warm water. About that much yeast. (I can eyeball it to within 1/4 oz, but can't remember how many ounces) Then fill the bucket the rest of the way to the top and slowly pour it into the mixer, while resetting it to 20 minutes. Add water a little bit at a time, as needed, so that it forms a nice nipple while mixing around the 10 minute mark. At 7 minutes remaining, add about 8 oz of olive oil. When it's done mixing, ut it in a large container to rise for about an hour. Rub olive oil on it to keep it from drying out... Then, cut out portion sizes of dough. Let them rise again for about 30 minutes. Then hand toss.

Since you don't know how big my bucket is, or my cups for yeast and salt, you're out of luck. P.S. Sugar in dough?! Blasphemy! Sugar added to the sauce? Egads! It's freakin pizza, not candy. If you use good quality ingredients, you don't need sugar. If you want to use crappy tomato sauce for a base and add sugar, just go to Little Caesars. (They rapidly went out of business in our city.)

You do know why sugar/honey is sometimes used when making the dough right?