Saw Hoda and Kathie Lee tasting Naked Pizza on the Today Show this past week.

It didn’t look naked to me. It looked pretty good, with a crust that looked whole grain and some good toppings. Best I could tell from TV.

But they’d just had some wine, which they were excited about.  Apparently it was aged in stainless barrels. So the pizza was not getting their full attention.

I understand convenience. Well-made homemade pizza can be just as convenient. The notion of “naked” pizza, as in “just plain pizza” appeals to me. I just put it through the lens of “homemade.”

Homemade pizza that rules them all

• Make your crust with the balance of whole grains and flours that suit your taste
• Select your toppings the same way: massive mushrooms or sausage sensation, or…
• Bake it round, square or any other shape
• Serve it HOT from the oven, no transport delays

Homemade pizza: well topped and always tasty!

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Add fresh basil? Sounds good. Let me get some green on my pizza.

Here’s how:

• Choose fresh basil leaves
• Rinse the leaves and pat dry
• Stack several leaves together
• Roll the stack
• Use a sharp knife to thinly slice the leaves (cut across the width)

This will give you long thin strips of fragrant and tasty basil, what chefs call a chiffonade. Then arrange on your pizza, after the Parmesan and sausage, before the mozzarella.

Some people like to put on the whole leaves, but I like to have the dusky flavor spread out, so that every slice has some.

I used 8 medium sized leaves for my 14-inch pizza, and this was the ordinary basil variety that is common in farm markets and specialty groceries. You could experiment with other varieties, as you wish. I used smell as my guide, and I wanted to be sure and get an herb that would complement (and not overpower) the sauce and sausage.

I’ve seen recipes for basil on sausage pizza before. But what pushed me to try it?

I got the idea from an episode of Castle, and it just struck me as something that would be delicious. Castle is one of my top three favorite TV shows. It was a program from Season 3, “A Slice of Death.” This is the episode where the plot plays out against the intense rivalry between four New York pizza restaurants, with names so similar it adds another layer to the mystery.

In the end, Castle goes “across a bridge” to get a special sausage basil pizza for his daughter. He’s such a good dad! (I’ll forgive him not making it himself.)

Any night that Castle is on is a good night for homemade sausage pizza, too!

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Feed your hungry goblins and ghouls some healthy pizza when they return from their candy collecting and parties on Halloween.

It’s easy to be ready to serve hot, fresh pizza made at home with a few simple steps in preparation.

• Shop for pizza-making supplies. You’ll need some good bread flour and yeast for the homemade pizza crust.  Or you can purchase frozen dough in balls at the grocery. Stock up on pizza sauce, cheese and other toppings, too.
• Prepare the pizza toppings. Cook sausage, slice onions, fresh mushrooms, peppers or olives. Shred or slice the mozzarella as needed.
• Make the dough for the pizza crusts. It will rise slower in the refrigerator, so you can make it several hours ahead of when you’ll need it. Or, freeze your own homemade pizza crust ahead of time. Let the dough return to room temperature before you try and stretch it out.

When the tired kids of all ages return, you’ll be ready to assemble and bake them some nourishing homemade pizza.

A spooktacular pizza buffet will put a satisfied smile on their faces as they relax after their Halloween haunts.

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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.

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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!

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The only down side of this sausage is that they hardly ever have it in the meat case, and I have to special order it.

Since I was in another favorite store, Holiday Market in Royal Oak, I checked out the meat case there to see what they might have. This led me to try the dried tomato-basil sausage, made with chicken and turkey.

It is great to have so many choices of locally-made products. Like the pizza sausage, this one is made in the shop by the meat department.

Oh, yes, this one is good, too!

I fried it in a skillet before adding it to the pizza. You do have to watch it closely. The dried tomatoes and other ingredients can burn if you’re not careful.

This sausage goes nicely with my favorite sauce, Pastorelli. It has a savory zing, spicy but not overpowering.

Now I’ll just have to make a pizza with some of each, and do a taste comparison. Any excuse for more homemade sausage pizzas!

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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 pizza stone 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.

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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.

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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.

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Our guest post is from Billy Bristol, a true Texas barbecue master. Grilled pizza is a great way to beat the summer heat while enjoying fresh, homemade pizza.

Use your favorite pizza stone (check out our favorite Hartstone model in the sidebar), or go direct to the flat grilling surface. And we especially like the idea of making the dough ahead, and having it ready to use from the fridge.

If you don’t have an outdoor oven to bake your pizzas, just fire up the grill. With a little practice, you can make your pizza outdoors and enjoy those beautiful summer evenings and a tasty, savory pie!

By Billy Bristol

Just like the pizza baked in a wood-burning oven, grilled pizza is deliciously smokey and very easy to make. Most people do not own a wood-burning stove, but do own a grill, making grilling pizza convenient and possible to do in most households.

Grilled pizza makes a perfect appetizer for a barbeque party. As it is always a good idea to feed your guests something before the big event, they can sip on drinks while enjoying small pizza slices hot off the grill. You will notice how it keeps the curious from opening the grill lid while the main dish is being cooked later on.

This method of grilling pizza is simple, and makes great grilled pizza, whether cooking on a charcoal or gas grill. Because of the ability to control the heat more accurately, this pizza grilling method is a little easier on a gas grill. But great results can be had on a charcoal grill, also.

Be sure to expect some failures. It happens sometime. Try grilling pizza for close family first, then make it for friends. Once you get the techniques of grilling pizza down pat, the pizza delivery person might as well forget about showing up at your house ever again.

The pizza grilling process relies on the ability to use indirect heat. With one burner (or the side where the charcoal is, if using that) on high, the dough (homemade pizza dough recipe below) is placed right on the grill rack, grilled face-down for a short time, then flipped right-side-up, ready for the toppings.

• Place pizza stone (if desired…You can also place pizza directly on the grill) on the “cooler” side, close, the lid, and let the stone get hot (about 10 minutes).
• Place the pizza on the hot stone and close the lid.
• Check the pizza every 5 minutes to make sure it does not burn. It should be ready in about 15 to 25 minutes, depending on your grill temperature and thickness of the dough.

It takes some practice and some timing on your part to get the crust just right, but you will. Have some patience, and in time it will be worth the effort!

Homemade Pizza Dough

Unlike many pizza doughs and pizza dough recipes, this one does not require refrigeration for easier handling. Once the pizza dough is prepared and frozen for later, you can come home from work and have delicious grilled pizza on the table by sundown (This pizza dough recipe can be prepared and frozen for up to 3 months. Just thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before preparation).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm (105 to 115 degrees) water

1 package dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (plus some for the mixing bowl)

4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, mix together the water and the yeast, and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the salt, garlic powder, and olive oil. Stir in about 3 1/2 cups of the flour, until a soft dough is formed. Let the dough rise until it is light and puffy, or about 2 hours.

After kneading, punch it down and divide the dough into 4 portions. Wrap each portion tightly with plastic wrap, then freeze.

Thaw pizza dough in the refrigerator the night before grilling. Coat the thawed dough with oil, then let rise at room temperature. When doubled in size, roll out the dough into thin rounds, then add the toppings.

Billy Bristol is the editor and chief BBQ pitmaster for TexasBarbeques.com, an outdoor cooking and entertaining website devoted to backyard living. TexasBarbeques.com has been providing barbecue recipes, cooking tips, grilling techniques, and backyard entertainment ideas since 2005.

Billy Bristol is also the writer and editor for Food in Texas, a website devoted to the celebration of traditional homemade Texas Food. With simple recipes and cooking ideas that bring out the best in classic Texas cuisine, Food in Texas is creating its own culinary legacy.

Photo credit: Stock Exchange/joedburge. Article source: Ezinearticles.com

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