Pizza, Pizza

Every Friday night, I make homemade pizza. It used to be that every Friday night we'd buy a pizza but since we're on a budget, I've undertaken the task of making a pizza at home that's just as good as the restaurant stuff.

I use this recipe for breadsticks except I reduce the yeast amount to 2 1/4 tsp (or 1 packet) instead of a tablespoon. I just realized that the first few times I made it, it was yummy but you could really taste the yeast. Here's some of my "perfecting the pizza" tips:

• Use Preggo Pizza Sauce in a jar. I've tried Ragu and it's just not that good. I use about 3-4 teaspoons per 12" pizza.
• Use mostly mozzarella cheese but add a little bit of cheddar cheese on top. When it comes out of the oven, you can also add parmesan right away which I think tastes delish.
• Add any toppings you want but keep in mind the pepperoni usually shrinks so if you like lots of it (like I do) then really load it on. 
• That recipe usually yields enough for a thicker crust 12" pizza and some breadsticks. You could definitely get 2 whole pizzas out of it, but they'll have thinner crust. (You can freeze the dough for a few days and thaw it out a few hours before you want to make the pizza.)
• Use parchment paper on a baking sheet. I don't spray the sheet like she does in the recipe; I just flour the parchment paper and roll out the dough right onto it.
• 425 degrees for 11-12 minutes and then letting it sit for 5 minutes before slicing it up makes the cheese settle enough so it won't just slide right off.
• Dip the pizza in ranch mixed with Frank's Original Red Pepper Sauce (used for buffalo wings). This happens to be a particular favorite of mine. 

For the past few weeks, I've only made pepperoni but today I branched out and made my husband's favorite: Hawaiian. (Note: I still made my own little pepperoni section because I really, really love pepperoni pizza.) This pizza is just oh-so-yummy and I think I've finally perfected it to our liking. Now go try it yourself!