Homemade pizza Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Kimbesa's Homemade Pizza

National Sausage Pizza Day – Bake a Homemade Pizza

Posted on October 11, 2010March 26, 2015 by kimbesa

Homemade sausage pizza has become one of our favorites due to discovering the great pizza sausage from our local Hollywood Markets. No surprise to find there’s a National Sausage Pizza Day today to celebrate this good food.

No affiliate relationship, just a tasty sausage that goes wonderfully well with our favorite pizza sauce by Pastorelli (which I keep tabs on which markets carry it… I’ll drive to a different grocery store for it).

I’m very loyal to particular products when I find one that’s outstanding, one that I’d recommend to family, friends and others. The Hollywood sausage and Pastorelli sauce both qualify.

It’s easy to enjoy a hot sausage pizza several times a week. I’ve already written about how to cook your sausage for pizza. Our favorite Hollywood sausage is not too spicy, not too bland, just right.

Tips for easy sausage pizza:

Purchase sausage in bulk, without casings
Precook and crumble the sausage before adding to your pizza
Drain the sausage on paper towels if there is excess grease
Freeze sausage if you won’t use it promptly, in pizza-sized batches
Plan to use your frozen sausage within two or three months
Thaw package of frozen sausage in the refrigerator overnight, the day before you’ll make your pizza
Add cooked sausage to your pizza after the sauce and Parmesan cheese, before the mozzarella

A good pizza sausage adds lots of flavor to your pizza, complements your sauce and other ingredients. It can make your pizza baked at home extra good.

Best Flour To Use For Homemade Pizza Crust

Posted on September 12, 2010September 19, 2017 by kimbesa

I love bread flour for pizza crust. Guess we’re fortunate at our house, because no gluten allergies here. (I am exploring gluten free pizza crusts, for future use. Why should an allergy get in the way when you love pizza?)

Got some bread flour from Hampshire Farms at the Royal Oak Farmers Market.

This is a whole grain bread flour, milled locally from local wheat. One of the photos shows a comparison, regular bread flour to this flour.

I found that ¼ cup, up to not more than ½ cup of this flour in my usual pizza crust recipe worked well to give the crust some more “tooth” which makes the pizza even more satisfying in this cooler weather. My recipe for pizza crust is on this page.

The corner pieces are almost like a slice of pizza with a bread stick on the side. Something crunchy to munch. I could see making this crust into a batch of bread sticks and using the pizza sauce to dip. Could be a good game-day buffet item. Just keep the sauce warm in a small crock pot or chafing dish.

In the quest for a great pizza crust, the importance of having a hot, pre-heated oven comes up over and over. Give your oven 10 or 15 minutes to heat up, so that the pizza goes in to a fully hot oven. As for temperature, it’s 500 degrees in my case. That’s as hot as my ordinary home oven goes.

As I write, I’ve got another batch of dough for pizza crust rising in the kitchen. I can already smell the yeasty goodness. Ultimately this will be a sausage pizza, of course. Another tasty pizza coming up soon, crust and all!

Sausage Pizza – Saturday Night

Posted on August 14, 2010March 26, 2015 by kimbesa

Homemade sausage pizza is so good, it could take me years to get tired of it.

A hot, homemade pizza just hits the spot, especially on Saturday or Sunday night, for a causal meal, easy to eat while relaxing or watching some television.

It’s easy to make homemade dough for the pizza crust ahead of time, even the day before, and allow it to rise in the refrigerator.

Let your dough warm to room temperature before stretching it out on your [popup_product]pizza stone[/popup_product] or baking sheet.

Frying the fresh sausage (destined for pizza) is definitely the way to go, if you have the time. Browning develops the flavor and you have more control if you work in a skillet.

Work in batches so that you brown the sausage rather than steam it
Allow to drain on a paper towel to remove excess grease
Cool the sausage so you don’t burn yourself when adding it to your pizza

Pizza is so versatile that you can add more or less of your favorite ingredients, or try some new ones. Black olives are on my list for this.

And a brain wave – next time I order my favorite pizza sausage from Hollywood Markets, have them leave it in bulk instead of stuffing it in casings. I’m just going to take it out of the casing anyway.

I’d prefer not to freeze it, but buying in bulk (casings or no) I can’t use the quantity before it would spoil, unless I’m making pizza for a serious crowd.

Should I fry it before or after freezing? This is a question for my friend Chef Lynn, to be determined. I want to preserve the wonderful flavor of the seasonings, and freezing can alter them.

Meanwhile, time to enjoy another fresh hot pizza Saturday night!

About the plate: Pfaltzgraff buffet plate in the Seychelles pattern. Generous size for two big pizza slices.

Homemade Sausage Pizza Revisited

Posted on July 18, 2010 by kimbesa

Pizza with saussage

I revisit my favorite sausage pizza often. I never was much for a meat lovers pizza, until I discovered this locally made pizza sausage.

My friends are probably tired of me raving about my favorite pizza sausage from Hollywood Markets, a local chain of seven supermarkets.

You won’t find this exact product outside suburban Detroit. It’s made in the back at the butcher counter at my local store. I have my eye out for some other products or alternatives that might be available to friends in other parts of the country, and I’ll report on those when I find them.

This sausage is a bit more savory than the Sweet Italian, and not overtly fiery like the Hot Italian Sausage. It’s savory with the right spice blend for pizza. I say oregano, garlic, salt and black pepper, and a bit of red pepper flake. There are probably a few more secret ingredients.

I’ve tried both frying the pizza sausage to cook it ahead (after taking it out of the casings) and baking the sausage for my pizza in the casings. Either way, the sausage meat ends up in pieces to be sprinkled on the pizza after the sauce, Parmesan cheese and mushrooms, and before the mozzarella cheese.

My favorite is frying. I like the crispy edges. Browning brings out more flavor in the sausage. But baking it often very convenient. Just put a few links in the oven, go off and do other things, and come back when they’re done. Over time, I’ve decided that baking the sausage for about an hour at 375 is optimal.

This sausage has turned me into even more of a pizza lover than I was before. Easy homemade pizza, very satisfying and handy to make regularly.

Homemade Pizza Crust in a Jiffy

Posted on July 1, 2010October 11, 2010 by kimbesa

Making your pizza crust at home from a boxed mix is not exactly what I consider home made. It’s not “from scratch” but not too far off.

Jiffy pizza crust mix I decided to test the Jiffy Pizza Crust boxed mix that is available in many grocery stores.

Jiffy is a Michigan company and they make a variety of these convenience mixes. We always had their cornbread mix at home.

Jiffy Crust Benefits

Convenience. One box makes a crust about 10 by 14 inches, or a number of smaller crusts. You could take this camping if you want pizza, just bring some flour for kneading, along with the sauce and other ingredients you will need
Rises quickly due to a combination of yeast and baking soda
Easy to make. You just need water and some extra flour to briefly knead the dough

The other side

Fluffier texture than I generally like due to the combination of yeast and baking soda. My homemade pizza crust recipe has only yeast as the leavening agent
With only a little more time, I can make a crust from scratch using my own choice of flour

The Jiffy mix calls for prebaking the crust at 425 degrees. In my 30+ years of making pizza at home, I have never prebaked a crust. I consider it unnecessary.

Why bake before topping the pizza? I think the advocates of this method believe that it makes the crust crispier and/or keeps it becoming soggy due to the sauce and other ingredients.

I did not prebake my test crust, added my normal ingredients, and baked the pizza at 500 degrees. It came out fine.

Your pizza crust will be crisp if you use a good quality pizza sauce (no corn syrup or other fillers) that is thick, and bake it a hot, preheated oven.

Tips for a crisp pizza crust

Knead your crust until it has a dull sheen and won’t take in any more flour. It won’t stick easily to your hands, but is not so full of flour that the crust doesn’t hang together as a smooth ball. Better to use less flour at first, then add more a little at a time, vs. adding too much too early.
Use good quality bread flour
Stretch the crust out so that is relatively thin
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees
Assemble the pizza right before baking

I have more of the Jiffy crust mix, and I will use it when I want convenience. I’ll knead it according to the directions, adding my own flour.

Running Home to Homemade Pizza

Posted on April 24, 2010October 11, 2010 by kimbesa

Homemade Pizza With Sausage

Went out with a friend for pizza at a local establishment. This is a fine place for conversation and the pizza is highly rated.

It was very good, but seemed a bit greasy, especially considering it had no meat, only cheese and mushrooms.

Next night, made my own!

I must be spoiled. When I make my own, I know what’s in the crust: flour, yeast, salt, water and a bit of oil. And you can leave out the oil.

As for my favorite sauce, Pastorelli, corn syrup is noticeably absent from the list on the label.

And there’s no pizza hotter or fresher than the one I pull out of my own oven.

Maybe we’ll go out for pizza again sometime. Or maybe I should have company and make enough for both of us!

Celebrate March Madness with Homemade Pizza

Posted on March 31, 2010October 11, 2010 by kimbesa

DeliciousHomemadePizza

Pizza and basketball. What a great combination!

The coming game between MSU and Butler is all over the news here, as I’m in Michigan. It probably will be exciting. Teams which make the Final Four have to be good.

Having a game-watching party with family and friends this weekend? Make it a pizza night!

Here’s how you can have your pizza and see the game, too. Continue reading “Celebrate March Madness with Homemade Pizza” →

Make the Best Homemade Pizza, Use Pizza Stone Ovenware

Posted on February 20, 2010October 11, 2010 by kimbesa

Homemade pizza

Another Saturday night, time for homemade pizza. Get out the trusty Hartstone pizza stone and fire up the oven. Cook off some sausage from Hollywood, open a can or two of Pastorelli pizza sauce.

I have my favorite brands which are, in my opinion, the best. This comes from many years of experience, balancing several factors that fit the situation at our house.

Home pizza chefs know that the best homemade pizza is pizza made on an oven pizza stone. Sure, you can use a cookie sheet, or a metal pizza pan, and have a pizza come out tasting “pretty good.” But when you use a pizza stone, you’ll have pizza that comes out great.

The reason that pizza made on a pizza stone is best is because the crust is so important to a good pizza. No matter how awesome your toppings are, if your crust isn’t good, your pizza won’t be good.

For the best crust, you need to have the oven heat distributed evenly across the bottom of the pizza – this is what creates that pizzeria texture – crispy, but somehow a bit chewy, and completely satisfying, and this is accomplished with a pizza stone which retains and distributes the heat.

The pizza stone allows you to bake your pizza at a very high temperature, which is needed for great crust. The stone heats evenly and holds the heat, even when your oven is cycling through its heat up, cool down, heat up, cool down cycles.

Even though you are only baking the pizza for 13 to 15 minutes, this makes a difference.

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know I favor the Hartstone pizza stone. This is durable American made stoneware, fired at a very high temperature to make it soap and dishwasher safe. And you can cut the pizza right on the pizza stone. No knife marks.

Planning for company? Or a weekend gathering with family or friends? Pizza is a great food to have, because you can prepare most of it ahead, and bake it fresh right before it’s time to eat.

Pizza is a tradition and for many families – a ritual when it’s time to have a family Monopoly tournament on a chilly winter night, or after a pool party on a warm summer evening.

Wouldn’t you love to share the best homemade pizza with your family and friends? Forget about those frozen pizzas in a box, carryout or delivery, and baking pizza on aluminum pans. Get an oven pizza stone or two, and find out what real homemade pizzeria-style pizza is all about!

Pizza Sauce Is a Labor of Love

Posted on February 6, 2010October 11, 2010 by kimbesa

Pizza sauce

Some say that it’s the crust that makes the pizza, and it’s true that without a great crust, you can’t have really good pizza. But let’s not forget that fantastic pizza sauce is at the top of the list for ingredients that make pizza really taste great.

Just so you know, there’s nothing wrong with using pizza sauce that you’ve bought at the store, as long as it is made from good ingredients and adds the right flavor to your pizza. You can find some very nice pizza sauces out there that will assure that your made-with-care, handcrafted pizza is a big hit.

We love Pastorelli, which is available in grocery stores in our area, and also online. We’ve been using it since the late 1980s and have not yet found a brand that we like better.

When you’re deciding what to do about pizza sauce, use the amount of time you have to prepare your pizza as your guide. If you’re going to be in a hurry to get the pizza on the table, you might opt for a nice canned or jarred pizza sauce that you’ve discovered at your favorite grocery store.

Don’t forget that you can purchase gourmet sauces online, too. Try some of these purchased sauces out and see which you like best, and remember that even these can be made special when you add your own touches.

So You Want to Make Your Own

Now, if you’re thinking that you’d like to try your hand at making your own pizza sauce, know that it’s not all that difficult – and in terms of the time and energy you put into it, you’ll get a lot in return in the form of compliments.

We’d recommend experimenting with this in the summer when Roma or so-called “paste tomatoes” are in season. You can find them at many farmers markets at that time of year.

To get ready in the off-season, look for recipes and find the ones you want to test, line up the tools and if you’re going to can your own sauce, there are tools and processes to learn for that if you have never done it before.

Everyone has his or her own taste in pizza sauce. Some enjoy sauces that are tangy and savory, while others like sauces that are sweet, or very tomato-heavy. When you’re crafting your own pizza sauce, you’ll start with basic ingredients, and then make the sauce your own – it will be a true labor of love, and an exercise in creativity.

Homemade Pizza Sauce to Use Fresh

You can just make small batches of pizza sauce, to freeze or use promptly, too. This is also a great way to give several pizza sauce recipes a trial run before you invest the time and energy into canning. Find out first whether you really love the sauce!

Some basic ingredients that you’ll find in just about all pizza sauces in one combination or another are: crushed tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, finely diced onion, oregano and salt.

You might also find tomato sauce, sugar, olive oil, crushed peppers, hot pepper sauce and Parmesan cheese mixed in. There are as many great homemade pizza sauce recipes as there are pizza chefs, and with some experimenting, you can come up with a pizza sauce that is your own secret recipe.

Depending on the ingredients, you may have to pressure can the tomatoes, as opposed to canning in a water bath method.

Make Pizza at Home to Your Family’s Tastes

If you have more time to prepare your homemade pizza, creating your own sauce will be rewarding. There is nothing like making a lovingly prepared dinner from scratch, including taking the time to mix and simmer up a batch of delicious pizza sauce.

Creating your own recipe for pizza sauce is one of the nicest things you can do for yourself and those who’ll be lucky enough to enjoy your pizza. Serve your homemade pizza with optional additions such as Parmesan cheese, Italian seasonings, and crushed peppers for those who like to add their own touches, and complete the meal ensemble with a leafy salad and a glass of Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc (or a glass of milk for the kiddies) – you’ll have a dinner that everyone loves!

More sausage pizza – a savory supper

Posted on January 28, 2010October 11, 2010 by kimbesa

Another great sausage pizza

I’ve been baking my sausage ahead of making my pizzas. I’ve been using the oven for roast pork and other things, so it has been easy to add an extra ovenware dish with some sausage in it.

This is very convenient when it comes time to make a pizza and has been working out well.

My favorite Hollywood Markets pizza sausage comes in the large links, and five of them is enough for three pizzas, each with a generous helping of sausage, and room for mushrooms, too.

Again this time I baked the sausages in their casings, and put them in the refrigerator to get cold, so they would be easier to work with.

Instead of slicing the them, however, I just cut chunks off in somewhat smaller pieces than last time. I really like this, because it helps the sausage get a little browner in the oven, and makes it even more tasty for that.

So handy to pull out some sausage from the fridge and cut it while the dough is rising, ready to add to my pizza right after the mushrooms.

This is my third pizza in a week, and it went down very well. I could make thinner round slices of sausage, but this method is less fussy and full of flavor.

Good thing I got 10 pounds of pizza sausage, to last me until my next special order!