National Sausage Pizza Day – Bake a Homemade Pizza

Sausage pizza for National Sausage Pizza dayHomemade 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.

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestmailby feather

Make the Best Homemade Pizza, Use Pizza Stone Ovenware

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!

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestmailby feather

Pizza Sauce Is a Labor of Love

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!

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestmailby feather

Another Sunday, another pizza night

Sunday night pizza

We won’t begrudge anyone a good pizza, even if it is not homemade. We just think that, since it’s so easy to make your own at home, that it should be a skill in your skill set.

No reason to feel intimidated! With just crust alone, it’s so easy to work off your frustrations, and test some good local ingredients, like flour, cheese and sauce.

By the time you’re eating that hot, flavorful pie, you will be much more relaxed and ready to go out and slay dragons once more…

A complete purist or obsessive would make and can their own sauce! I have done that, but never got as good a product as my favorite, Pastorelli, which can be hard to find if you’re far from Chicago.

While many frozen pizzas and box mixes are available, books like American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza, by Peter Reinhart, help home cooks take their pizza to new levels of culinary expression and delight.

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestmailby feather