I Could Eat a Whole Bag of Mozzarella Cheese

It's pizza night at our house.  For a while we were doing every Thursday.  Changing things up now due to scheduling conflicts on Thursdays.  I grew up in a household where mom cooked dinner every night.  But dad, dad could make pizza.  And THAT was awesome.  We (my sister and I) would stand about the kitchen as he pulled and prodded and tossed and turned.  Sauce would flow and the mozzarella cheese was endless.  It would come out of the oven all hot and ooey gooey.  Many a tongue was burnt since we dove right in anxious to get the first bite of cheesy goodness.

Now that I have a household of my own, I pass this tradition down.  Kassidy doesn't like sauce.  No pizza sauce, no spaghetti sauce.  A blog for another time.  So, the solution was to make pizza rather than buy it.  But isn't pizza hard to make?  You ask.  But what about the dough?  You ask.  This my friends is pizza in 15 minutes or less.  By no means gourmet, but hey, let's play!  And for you parents out there, this is a great way to get the kids involved!  They can help at ever single step.

• Pre-heat your oven to 475 degrees, NOW, do not put the pizza in until it's 475
• Pizza dough - where can you get this?  Well, your local grocery store of course.  You didn't know that?  Yep, usually in the deli section "somewhere" - and most places do regular "white" dough, as well as wheat options.  I like the wheat, it tends to crisp up more.  But we usually just do the white.
• Now, if you want this dinner to take more preparation and longer than 15 minutes, this is where you can divert from the recipe.  Dough, cold, directly out of the store bag will work, just fine.  It makes a "heavy" crust, you can get it crisp.  But if you like a light and fluffy crust, you'll want to let this sit out for a bit.  Get a bowl, spray it with your cooking spray of choice, place the dough in, turn it once to coat both sides, cover it with a towel, and let it sit.  On the counter.  Don't worry, it's going to be fine.
• Ok, so we got the dough.  Give it a good splash of flour so it's got a light dusting on all surfaces.  Stretch it, toss it, roll it out.  Have fun.  Get it into a circle if you have circle pans, put it in a rectangle for cookie sheets.  I use 14" round pans I got at a certain W-mart store for $12 each.  LOVE them.  Before you put the dough on, give it a few shakes of corn meal.  Don't have cornmeal, give it a light dusting of flour.
• With the dough on the pan, move onto sauce.  I use plain old, no ingredients, store brand tomato sauce.  Small can, what is that like 4oz?  Spoon it out in the quantity you desire.
• Now, we play.  Spices!  Think ITALIAN. - Basil, Oregano, Parsley, Onion Powder, Garlic Salt - sprinkle high for even coating.  (Kids LOVE doing this)
• Cheese... Oh Cheese, how do I love thee, let me count the ways...... Mozzarella and lots of it.  I load it on.  You'd think I was having cheese with some dough rather than dough with cheese.  Oh yes, the ooey-ist and gooey-ist.  Often, I find that adding some cheddar, monterrey jack, provolone, parmessan... oh yes, cheese, I love you.  {drooooool}  Anyhow, load your cheese on.
• Toppings!  Time to play again.  Load it up.  Broccoli, pepperoni, mushrooms, chicken, pineapple, ham, linguini, peppers/onions... a blog for another time again... but choose your favorite and put it on.
• Oven - remember do NOT put it in if the oven isn't full 475 degrees.
• 10 minutes, don't open the door until the buzzer goes off.  And even then, don't open it, turn the light on and look at it.  Did the dough rise? Is it a golden brown color?  No?  Give it just 2 more minutes?  How about now?  no?  1 minute.  Keep watching it and pull when you think it's done.
• Cutting board, pizza slicer, put the slices back on the hot pan to keep them warm.
• Add your favorite cold beverage to a glass.
• Yum.
  
  This is our 1/2 cheese no sauce, 1/2 mushroom extra cheese pizza from tonight.