“Pizza, Momma Mia, My Home Pizzeria”

Pizza, Momma Mia, My Home Pizzeria

Pizza, Momma Mia, My Home Pizzeria…Who loves pizza? Me, me, me! On the weekends, usually Saturday, Mom would make pizza.

Does anyone remember Chef-Boy-AR-Dee Pizza Mixes? The box contained crust mix, sauce and cheese topping. Mix up the crust mix, spread on the pizza sauce and top with the packet of cheese and bake. My Mom always bought the sausage mix.

When you’re a kid, you’ll eat anything. My sister and I thought this was the biggest treat. Thank goodness as you grow up we realized what real pizza tastes like and it tastes nothing like Chef-Boy-AR-Dee.

Pizza, Momma Mia, My Home Pizzeria

Living in Chicago, pizza is an adventure and is everywhere. Everyone has their favorite. Light sauce, heavy on the sauce, no sauce, no cheese, extra cheese; take your pick. Chicagoan’s think we have the world’s best pizza and I have to agree.

Chicago is famous for its deep-dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s – home of the sausage patty, Uno’s, Giordano’s, and Eduardo’s. However, thin crust is popular, too. Thin crust is my favorite. I love the thin crunchy, crispy crust topped with all my favorite toppings.

Lou Malnati’s makes an awesome thin crispy crust, too. Believe me, I feel the danger because there is a Lou’s five minutes from where I live. I can close my eyes and see the cheese string as I take a bite. Yum!!! Chicago has many smaller pizzerias with fabulous pies. All depends on what you’re in the mood for. There’s a pizza with your name on it.

There are times I make my own pizza crust from scratch as I do most everything but if you find a great pizza crust mix you love, use it. Don’t be afraid to try several until you find one that tastes just right.

Sometimes with our busy schedules you don’t always have the time to make crust from scratch. Pizza, Momma Mia, My Home Pizzeria recipe is for you.

Pizza, Momma Mia, My Home Pizzeria

So, if you need a good pizza crust mix, try “King Arthur Flour’s Perfect Pizza Flour Blend.” This mix is wonderful and can be used for deep-dish or thin crust pizzas. The pizza pictured above was made with Perfect Pizza Flour Blend. Find mix here: www.kingarthurflour.com. My pizza is topped with sauteed Italian sausage and mushrooms. I like to sauté ahead to get rid of the fat from the sausage and water from the mushrooms. Not a fan of soggy pizza…

Having friends over? Create a pizza bar. Make the crust and have friends make their own pizzas. Set up meats, vegetables and cheeses to choose from it’s a good time for all. Use this crust mix for family dinner nights especially when your kids have busy school nights or Mom is just to beat to do anything else. Know what I mean?

Do you have a pizza story to share? A favorite pizza crust recipe? Favorite toppings? Do you use other sauces besides tomato on your pizza? Ever try pizza on the grill? Can’t wait to hear about your inspirations and creations. Have some fun with the whole family.

Perfect Pizza Crust

 3 1/4 cups Perfect Pizza Flour Blend

1 T. Pizza Dough Flavor (optional)

1 1/4 t. salt

2 T. olive oil

1 1/4 cups warm water

2 t. instant yeast

In a medium-sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Mix and knead by hand, mixer, or bread machine, until smooth, adding additional water or flour as needed. For the best flavor, allow the dough to rise 1 hour, but for pizza in a hurry, you may use the dough immediately.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide and/or roll it out to the desired size and thickness of crust. Fit dough into a lightly greased or cornmeal sprinkled pan. Allow to rise while preheating your oven to 425 degrees.

Just before baking, prick the dough all over and brush it with olive oil. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until set and just beginning to brown. Top as desired and bake until the crust is golden and the toppings are bubbly, an additional 6 to 8 minutes for thin crust and 8 to 12 minutes for thick crust pizza.

This all depends on the thickness of your toppings you are using. The recipe makes enough dough for two 12 – 14-inch, thin crust pizzas (1/4 – 1/2-inch-thick crust) or one 14-inch, thick or deep-dish pizza (3/4 – 1-inch-thick crust). Allow to rest 5 minutes before serving.