Make It Pizza Night

There was a time when I’d buy store-bought crust to make pizza, but since pizza has become our family’s signature dish—the meal family members request for birthday dinners and celebrations—I can’t bring myself to buy crust anymore. As a result, I’ve worked to streamline from-scratch pizza.

Pizza Formula

Short of owning a wood-fired pizza oven, grilling is the easiest and best way to make great pizza at home. My grill is located on a deck just a few steps away from my kitchen and hooked up to a gas line (as opposed to a small tank), so I grill pizza regularly year round, and since I do it often, grilling is as easy and familiar to me as turning on my oven. I know. I’m not the average cook.

But if you’re able, grilling pizza is easier because once the grill preheats you’ve got a hot rack, a large surface, and a live fire ready to bake up to four large rectangles of dough at a time. And because the grill opens up (not out like an oven) it’s less awkward. With a little practice, it’s possible to lay up to four stretched rectangles of dough on the hot rack at the same time rather than sliding them on, one at a time, with a pizza peel.

It’s possible to make great pizza in your oven, too. Rather than buy a pizza stone, most of which are large enough to bake only one pizza at a time, line your entire oven rack with either unglazed quarry tiles or unglazed stone tiles, either of which are inexpensive and available at tile shops or big-box home improvement stores.

Of course, there are those nights when you don’t have time to do anything except top a store-bought crust, and that’s okay. Whatever you make at home will always be better for you than take-out or anything from the frozen food case.

4 HOMEMADE PIZZA CRUSTS (OR 2 LARGE STORE-BOUGHT PIZZA ROUNDS)

Rethinking how to shape the dough and when to top the pizza are the first two steps in simplifying from-scratch pizza. It’s much easier to stretch dough into a rough rectangle than a round. Plus, this shape bakes up crisper—no more limp pizza triangle tips.

To stretch dough, gently turn the risen dough from the bowl onto a floured surface. Avoid your instinct to punch it down, which causes the gluten to seize up, making it difficult to stretch until it relaxes again, another 15 to 20 minutes later. To form a rectangle, quarter the dough and then pick up a portion with both hands and pull it like you’re stretching a piece of gum. The long, thin shape makes it possible to fit up to four pizzas at a time on a large grill or two pizzas in the oven—twice what you’d be able to fit with the round shapes.

Most pizza recipes instruct to top raw pizza dough, but it’s easier to transfer un-topped stretched dough onto a hot grill or into a tile- or stone-lined oven. And naked stretched dough bakes or grills up brown on the bottom and blond on the top in just minutes. Parbaked or par-grilled pizzas are easier to top and transfer, and they cook up—crisped bottom and cheese-melted top—in just another few minutes. Grilling or baking untopped dough means you can make the crusts ahead and top them at your leisure.

GRILLED PIZZA CRUSTS

Makes 4 pizzas (serves up to 8)

This pizza dough formula is similar to Daily Bread (this page). The only difference is a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of teaspoons of sugar added to the pizza dough to help it crisp up and brown better. If you memorize the bread formula, and then remember to add 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 teaspoons sugar, you’ve got your pizza dough down, too.

⅓ cup warm water and 1⅓ cups room temperature water

2 teaspoons (or 1 envelope) active dry yeast

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 cups bread or unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons table salt

2 teaspoons sugar

Cornmeal, for the baking sheets

Measure the ⅓ cup warm water in a 2-cup measuring cup. Whisk the yeast into the water and let stand until foamy, just a few minutes. Add the remaining 1⅓ cups water and the oil to the yeast mixture.
Meanwhile, pulse the flour, salt, and sugar in a large food processor fitted with a steel blade.
Pour the liquid ingredients over the flour and process to form a rough soft ball. If the dough does not come together, add additional water, a couple of teaspoons at a time. Continue to machine-knead the dough until smooth, about 30 seconds longer. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead a few seconds to form a smooth ball. Coat a large bowl with vegetable cooking spray, add the dough, and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
When ready to make the pizzas, turn all burners of a gas grill on high until very hot, about 10 minutes. Without punching the dough down, dump it onto a lightly floured surface. Using a chef’s knife or a metal dough scraper, quarter the dough. Working one at a time, stretch each portion into a rustic 12 × 3½- to 4-inch rectangle; transfer to 1 of 2 large cornmeal-coated baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining portions of dough. (The dough can also be punched down and refrigerated for up to 3 days, and is immediately ready to stretch.)
Carefully lift the stretched pieces of dough and lay them on the hot grill grate. Cover and grill until the bottoms are spotty brown, moving them around to ensure even cooking, and piercing the puffing dough as necessary, 2 to 3 minutes, depending on heat intensity. Turn the pizzas over and continue to grill, covered, until spotty brown on the second side, a couple of minutes longer. Remove the pizza crusts from the grill. (Crusts can be wrapped tightly and frozen for several months.)

OVEN-BAKED PIZZA CRUSTS

Makes 4 large pizzas (serves up to 8)

Dough from Grilled Pizza Crusts (this page)

Make the dough and let rise as directed in steps 1, 2, and 3.
When ready to make pizzas, remove all but 1 oven rack and adjust it to the lowest position. Line the rack with quarry- or stone-tiles. Heat the oven to 550°F, letting the tiles continue to heat 15 minutes after the oven has reached temperature.
Shape the pizzas as directed in step 4. Working with 2 at a time, place each portion of stretched dough on a large unrimmed baking sheet generously sprinkled with cornmeal and slide them onto the heated tiles. (You should be able to bake 2 crusts at a time.) Bake until the crust bottoms are browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and repeat with the remaining 2 portions of dough.

TIPS AND TRICKS

If you make a lot of pizza and bread, buy yeast in bulk and store it in the freezer, where it lasts much longer than the suggested expiration date.
If serving fewer than 4 people, bake all 4 crusts and wrap and freeze the remaining crusts for a quick dinner down the road.
It’s okay to buy pizza dough. To make 4 pizzas, purchase 2 pounds of dough and follow the shaping instructions in step 4 of Grilled Pizza Crusts (this page). Then either grill or oven bake the stretched dough.

ITALIAN-INSPIRED PIZZA SAUCES

I rarely sauce or top all 4 pizzas the same way, but the sauce quantities listed below are enough for all 4.

TRADITIONAL (2 cups, enough for 4 pizzas)

Simple Tomato Sauce (this page)
No-Cook Red Sauce: Mix 2 cups canned crushed tomatoes, 2 large garlic cloves, minced, and 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil.

No-Cook White Sauce: Mix 2 cups part-skim ricotta, ¼ cup milk, 2 large garlic cloves, minced, and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.

OTHER “SAUCING” OPTIONS

Fresh Red “Sauce”: Thinly slice 12 Campari tomatoes, lightly drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Prepared Pesto: Use 1⅓ cups.

Mozzarella: Thinly slice 12 ounces regular or smoked mozzarella. (If you choose mozzarella as your base, you’ll need an additional grated cheese for topping; (see “Melting Cheeses,” this page).

For saucing just one pizza, you’ll need:

½ cup Simple Tomato Sauce, No-Cook Red Sauce, or No-Cook White Sauce
3 thinly sliced Campari tomatoes sprinkled with salt and lightly drizzled with olive oil
⅓ cup pesto
3 ounces regular or smoked mozzarella, thinly sliced

OVEN-BAKED PIZZA

Butternut Squash–Red Onion Pizza (bottom left); Wild Mushroom Pizza (bottom middle); White Bean–Broccoli Rabe Pizza (top left)

Toppings: 1 Cup—More or Less—Per Pizza

Sometimes it’s worth buying specific pizza toppings. More often, though, you can just open the fridge and see what’s there. If you’ve got cooked vegetables, use them. If not, thinly slice or finely dice fresh ones, tossing them with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Of course, you can make a single-topping pizza—mushroom or pepperoni, for example—but I tend to go for two. There are a few exceptions (see below), but just remember you need about 1 cup toppings per pizza (4 cups total).

PROTEIN

If you’re making a two-topping pizza and one of those toppings is protein, figure ½ cup per pizza of one of the following. Two exceptions to the rule: ⅓ cup bacon per pizza is probably enough, and since there’s only ⅓ cup clams in a 6.5-ounce can, there’s no point opening a second one to make the ½ cup.

Shredded cooked chicken tossed with BBQ sauce

Medium peeled raw shrimp, diced and tossed with a light olive oil drizzle

Cooked bulk Italian Sausage Crumbles (this page) or cooked links, thinly sliced
Cooked ground meat (lamb, beef, or turkey) seasoned with salt and pepper
Thin-sliced pepperoni
Ham, cut into small dice
Fried bacon bits (since it cooks again, I tend not to fry it up too crisp). Use only ⅓ cup.
White beans, drained and tossed with a light olive oil drizzle (and no one would complain if you added a little minced garlic)
1 can (6.5 ounces) clams, drained, tossed with a light olive oil drizzle

VEGETABLES

If topping pizza with just vegetables, figure about 1 cup total of any bite-size vegetables—cooked or raw—for each pizza. Or if also topping with protein, reduce vegetables to ½ cup. If you’ve already got grilled, roasted, steam-sautéed or sautéed vegetables on hand (see “A Little Mise,” this page), use those.

TENDER VEGETABLES

Most vegetables are fine either raw or cooked, with the exception of mushrooms (see below). Cooked vegetables can go on as is. Toss prepared raw vegetables with a light olive oil drizzle and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and scatter over the sauced pizza crust.

Bell pepper (any color): Thinly slice into short strips.
Red onion: Peel, quarter, and thinly slice.
Mushrooms: Thinly slice and cook. For 2 cups—enough for 2 pizzas—sauté 8 ounces mushrooms in 4 teaspoons hot oil in a large skillet until the moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms start to brown, about 5 minutes. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
Eggplant: Cut into small dice.
Fennel: Halve or quarter, core, and thinly slice.
Zucchini: Halve or quarter lengthwise and thinly slice.

FIRM VEGETABLES

Asparagus: Cut into 1-inch pieces; for medium to thick, thinly slice the pieces lengthwise.
Broccoli florets: Cut into small florets.
Brussels sprouts: Trim and thinly slice.
Winter squash, such as butternut: Peel, seed, and thinly slice into bite-size pieces.
New potatoes (red or fingerling) or sweet potatoes: Thinly slice (sweet potatoes may need to be halved or quartered, depending on size).

GREENS

Greens are different from other pizza toppings. They’re very moist and would make a soggy single-topping pizza, so unless you precook them and squeeze out the excess moisture before topping the pizza, only use greens in combination with another topping or two. Also, because greens shrink a lot, figure 1 cup of raw greens per two-topping pizza.

Soft greens, such as arugula or baby kale or spinach: Toss with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and sprinkle over the pizzas as they emerge from the oven or grill.
Tender greens like beet greens, mature spinach, or Swiss chard: Stem and wash, if necessary, tear into bite-size pieces, toss with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and top pizzas before they go in the oven.
Sturdy greens, such as kale, turnips, collards, mustard, or broccoli rabe: Stem and wash, if necessary, tear or chop into bite-size pieces, massage with a little olive oil, and then season with salt and pepper. Top pizzas before they go in the oven.

OTHER VEGETABLES

Thaw and toss with a couple of drops of olive oil.

Frozen green peas
Frozen corn
Frozen or canned artichokes, cut into bite-size pieces

INTENSELY FLAVORED TOPPINGS: ¼ Cup—More or Less—Per Pizza

Because the following toppings are more intensely flavored, figure about ¼ cup rather than the usual ½ cup for a two-topping pizza.

Olives (especially Kalamata and oil-cured): Pit and coarsely chop.

Caramelized Onions (this page)
Roasted peppers: Thinly slice.

Prosciutto: Two choices: Either top pizza with minced prosciutto before it goes in the oven, or lay thin slices of it over the pizza as it emerges from the oven.

Anchovies: Mince or lay fillets on topped pizza.

MELTING CHEESES: A Generous ½ Cup Per Pizza

Cheese offers flavor, but it’s also the culinary glue that holds the pizza together. Since crumbled cheeses like feta and goat offer great flavor but not a lot of melting power, consider mixing them with a mild melting cheese like mozzarella.

Mozzarella, regular or smoked, thinly sliced or grated
Provolone, grated and mixed with mozzarella
Fontina, grated
Asiago, grated
Gruyère, grated and mixed with mozzarella
Crumbled feta mixed with mozzarella
Crumbled goat cheese mixed with mozzarella
Crumbled blue cheese mixed with mozzarella

FINISHING HERBS AND SPICES

There’s a restaurant near my house called Fat Cat’s. Their pizzas are lean and simple, but what makes them special is the box of Penzey’s spices they bring to the table along with the pizza. If you think sprinkling pizza with smoked paprika, cumin, or curry powder is weird, give it a try. Once you do, I’m betting you’ll start setting out the spice box on pizza night, too. Here are some obvious—and not so obvious—choices.

Red pepper flakes
Aleppo pepper flakes
Dried basil
Dried oregano
Smoked paprika
Curry powder or garam masala
Cumin
Fennel pollen (or finely minced fennel seeds)
Za’atar
Sumac
Soft fresh herbs: chopped basil, oregano, parsley, sage, mint, or snipped chives (or thinly sliced scallion greens)

CREATE-YOUR-OWN PIZZA

Makes 4 pizzas (serves up to 8 or 4 to 6 with leftovers)

This recipe assumes you are starting with precooked crusts—either homemade or store-bought.

4 Grilled or Oven-Baked Pizza Crusts (this page) or 2 large store-bought pizza crusts

2 cups Pizza Sauce (see this page)

4 cups Toppings (see this page)

A generous 2 cups (8 to 10 ounces) Melting Cheese (see this page)

Grated Parmesan cheese

Finishing Herbs/Spices (optional; see this page)

If grilling the pizzas, turn the grill burners to low and heat to around 400°F. If oven-baking the pizzas, heat the oven to 425°F.
Top each pizza crust with a Pizza Sauce, scatter with 1 cup Toppings and ½ cup Melting Cheese.
For grilled: Lay the topped pizzas on the grill grates. Close the lid and grill until the pizzas are crisp-bottomed and the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes.

For oven-baked: Place the pizza crusts on two large baking sheets and bake, rotating the pans and switching racks halfway through baking, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the pizzas to a cutting board and sprinkle with the Parmesan and Finishing Herbs/Spices (if using), as each person desires. Cut and serve.

At a Glance

PIZZA

Make the dough or buy 2 pounds. Divide the dough and stretch each portion, then grill or bake. (Alternatively, start with store-bought crusts.)
Prepare the sauce, toppings, and cheese.
Assemble the pizzas, then grill or bake them.
Sprinkle with Parmesan and optional finishing herbs and spices.

Suggestions

Now that you’ve got the formula and the technique down, you probably don’t need help putting together popular combos like sausage and pepper or mushroom and olive. The following are just a few interesting pizzas to get the creative juices flowing. If your fridge, freezer, and pantry are decently stocked, just open the doors and see what you’ve got.

Brussels Sprouts –Bacon Pizza

Diced ham is a fine stand-in if you don’t have time to cook bacon.

Pizza Sauce: No-Cook White Sauce (this page) or mozzarella cheese

Toppings: Brussels sprouts and bacon

Melting Cheese: Gruyère/mozzarella mix

Finishing Herbs/Spices: smoked paprika

Tomato, Corn, and Arugula Pizza

Pizza Sauce: Fresh Red “Sauce” (this page)

Toppings: corn and arugula

Melting Cheese: mozzarella