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Friday Favorite: Homemade Pizza

May 20th, 2011

There’s nothing quite like pulling a fresh homemade pizza out of the oven. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like pizza from a shop, that’s good in it’s own way. But a pizza made at home just the way you like it is hard to beat. And you don’t have to drive 20 min to pick it up, or pay the $25 either (one of the few bad things about living in a rural area)!

Until earlier this week it had been way too long since I’d made a pizza, many months. We’ve been missing the tangy sourdough crust, spicy tomato sauce, mushrooms, olives, caramelized onions, sun dried tomatoes and some delicious flavorful cheese. The drought is over and we enjoyed a PERFECTLY delicious homemade pizza with leftovers for a few days.
It’s not like we don’t ever eat pizza if we don’t make it at home, we have a standing dinner date every other week with friends for pizza. We spent months purchasing from all the different local shops and critiquing them. Yes we even had a scoring system and when we arrived at our favorite we’ve eaten it ever since.

If I had to choose my favorite pizza topping it would be mushrooms. Not the kind from the can, but real mushrooms, sliced thinly and tossed on top of the cheese. A good Hawaiian pizza comes in close behind made with caramelized pineapple and thinly sliced ham.

What’s your favorite pizza topping?

16 Comments to “Friday Favorite: Homemade Pizza”
  1. kristin @ going country on May 20, 2011 at 6:10 am

    I miss pizza. I’m the only one in my house who has no trouble digesting gluten, so I don’t make bread and pasta things just for me. Happily, Cubby seems able to digest and enjoy all things gluten-y, so maybe I should institute some pizza nights for the two of us and the other two can eat . . . whatever. I don’t care, as long as I get my pizza.

    My preferred toppings are black olives, bell pepper, and mushrooms. Though we don’t always have those things in the house, so more often than not, it was just cheese.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  2. Melissa on May 20, 2011 at 8:20 am

    That looks amazing! My husband and I are the same way- we can tell you who has the best toppings, best crust, best sauce, etc. anywhere in our town when it comes to pizza. Our favorite homemade is Italian Sausage, mushrooms, onions, peppers, and black olives!

    Reply to Melissa's comment

  3. Tunesia on May 20, 2011 at 8:49 am

    I like red onions, fresh basil, and sliced tomatoes. YUM! Can’t wait for my tomatoes to start producing :) I’d love the recipe for your sourdough crust….

    Reply to Tunesia's comment

  4. Kelly on May 20, 2011 at 9:13 am

    Mushrooms, but that may be mostly because I live with heathens who don’t like mushrooms so I never get them. I make pizza every friday and almost always have the same toppings (until harvest season). I love adding crushed red pepper flakes to my pizza, so I guess that’s my favourite, regular topping.

    Reply to Kelly's comment

  5. Jenny on May 20, 2011 at 9:17 am

    Take your two favorites and combine them to get mine. I love a Hawaiian with mushrooms. I prefer my ham diced rather than sliced though. I like making my own as well, and when I do this, I fry the mushrooms in bacon grease before putting them on the pizza, just makes them a little more flavorful. I love the little hint of sweetness that pineapple adds to pizza. I’ve never tried caramelizing it first, but I sure will for my next pizza.

    I’m also not a huge fan of tomato sauce, so I like to try different sauces on mine. I love ranch dressing. Alfredo sauce is pretty good too, or just a homemade white sauce with whatever flavors sound good. You can also use pesto, but I find it makes the pizza a little dry, but it is tasty.

    I once had a takeout pizza that used honey garlic sauce and was topped with toasted almonds and chicken that was pretty good as well, but doesn’t really satisfy a pizza craving because it’s just so different.

    Reply to Jenny's comment

  6. Barefeet In The Kitchen on May 20, 2011 at 9:30 am

    Oh my goodness! You are making me way too hungry for pizza at 6:30 in the morning. Nothing beats a great Hawaiian pizza as far as I am concerned. YUM!

    Reply to Barefeet In The Kitchen's comment

  7. MAYBELLINE on May 20, 2011 at 10:07 am

    Pepperoni
    OR pineapple and shrimp

    Reply to MAYBELLINE's comment

  8. Daedre Craig on May 20, 2011 at 10:32 am

    I love mushrooms on pizza too (but they have to be fresh mushrooms).

    I also really like chicken on pizza. I used to think it was weird, but my boyfriend got me into it…and now every single pizza I make or order has chicken on it.

    My all-time favorite is probably some combination of feta cheese, tomato, and spinach.

    Reply to Daedre Craig's comment

  9. goatpod2 on May 20, 2011 at 11:50 am

    I like most veggies on pizza (mushrooms, green peppers, black and green olives, and onions sometimes tomatoes). We don’t get any meat on our pizzas anymore though.

    Amy

    Reply to goatpod2's comment

  10. Joshua on May 20, 2011 at 11:51 am

    We love homemade pizza here at The Wallow too. I had the darndest time figuring out the best way to cook it in the oven, though.The top was always getting done way before the bottom. The savior was finding metal pizza screens at a restaurant supply store. I remembered them from when I used to work at a pizza shop in college. They work much better than solid metal pans, while still making it easy to handle the pizza. I also bought some unglazed terra cotta tiles at the hardware store (much cheaper than an official “pizza stone”). I leave a layer of them in the bottom of my oven, below the heating element, just to help with heat mass, but when I make pizza, I line the bottom rack with them during the pre-heat and then place the pizza screen directly on them. This applies as much heat as possible directly on the bottom of the pizza and helps even out the top-to-bottom balance.

    One advantage of an actual, solid, pizza stone, would be that you could put the pizza directly on it, and nothing cooks pizza dough quite like direct contact with a scorching hot surface. But I never could find a pizza stone that was actually as big as some of the pizzas I make. Well, I take that back. I could, but only just barely, and I’m not confident enough in my ability to precisely slide the pizza off of a paddle onto the stone without accidentally having it fall off the edge. So I just use the screens.

    Reply to Joshua's comment

    • Susy on May 20, 2011 at 12:06 pm

      Yes, I have a rather large very thick stone that I use for bread baking & pizza. There are companies that sell large and custom sized stones so you can get one as big as your oven.

      I usually put my crust on a sheet of vegan parchment and then slide it off of a metal cookie sheet onto the stone, then if it accidentally goes a little off the stone I can simply grab the parchment edge and adjust.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  11. Stephanie on May 20, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    Yum! Love homemade pizza! I think crimini mushrooms would be my favorite topping, if I had to choose one. I also love caramelized onions and spinach on pizza. I think I’ll be making one tonight now, lol!

    Reply to Stephanie's comment

  12. Marcia on May 20, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    Canned mushrooms on a pizza should be illegal. Canned mushrooms should be illegal period!

    Reply to Marcia's comment

  13. Jennifer Fisk on May 20, 2011 at 7:50 pm

    I love broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, jalapeno peppers, black olives and onions, not necessarily in that order.
    I’m sure you’ve done this but please share your dough recipe.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  14. Jannett on May 21, 2011 at 1:49 am

    an all time favorite is classic combination, but for an appetizer pizza, i like a pizza with a base of roasted garlic infused olive oil, caramelized onions, pears & gorgonzola cheese…its yummy with a glass of wine

    Reply to Jannett's comment

  15. Debbie on May 24, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    We make pizza often too. Our favourite toppings – carmelized onions, organic bacon, sauteed spinach, roasted red peppers and goat cheese. I love mushrooms too but they absolutely have to be fresh. If we order pizza and I forget to ask if they use fresh mushrooms or not, and the pizza arrives with canned, I can’t even eat it. Blech!

    Reply to Debbie's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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