Homemade Pizza: Garlicky Mushroom and Feta

This week's homemade pizza is much more on the gourmet side...mushrooms and feta cheese with a garlic infused olive oil sauce! This is not one that our kids are brave enough to try yet (though they like all of the ingredients separately), but I'm quite fine with not having to share this right now :)

For the crust, use any of your preferred crust recipes. To go with the gourmet toppings, I like to use the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day crust. Saute the mushrooms first (I do it this way), and they can even be prepped ahead of time along with the crust.

While the oven is preheating, place a generous portion of good quality olive oil (Trader Joe's is excellent and very reasonably priced) in a small sauce pan. Add 3 or 4 (or more or less, to taste) cloves of minced garlic to the oil, along with salt and pepper. Watch closely and allow to get nice and hot, but watch so the garlic does not burn. Taste frequently (and carefully!), adding additional seasoning if necessary.

Roll out the dough and place on a heated pizza stone. Brush the entire crust with the olive oil. I am very generous with the olive oil in the center of the crust. Add mushrooms and feta cheese, then sprinkle with parsley. Bake according to crust instructions, until nice and brown. Cut, serve, and enjoy!

This is a great break from traditional tomato-based pizza, and even though the toppings are a bit more expensive than regular homemade pizza, it is still considerably cheaper than ordering at a restaurant. That's a win in my book!

Other Pizza Recipes:
Deep Dish (Pizza Hut copycat)
Basic Recipe
Stuffed Crust
Bagel Bites

Homemade Pizza: Deep Dish (Pizza Hut copycat)

Next up in the homemade pizza is a recipe for deep dish pizza. I've been making this pizza for several years and found it originally from The Frugal Girl. The first few times were a little tedious because there are several steps to get this pizza on the table. This is also the perfect recipe for cold nights because you need really hot oven, which warms everything nicely since the sun is going down so early!

This recipe makes two 9-inch deep dish pizzas baked in cake pans! The secret ingredient is potatoes and I've also made them with a cup of white whole wheat flour subbed in for all-purpose. It makes a beautifully dense crust and browns up really well.

Deep Dish Pizza (via The Frugal Girl)

1 medium baking potato (about 9 ounces), peeled and quartered
1 1/2 t. active dry yeast
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup warm water

2 T. vegetable oil, plus 2 additional for each pan

1 3/4 t. table salt

Cook the potato, allow to cool, then grate, measuring 1 cup (lightly packed). You can also cook a large batch of potatoes and freeze them to use in this recipe! 

In your mixing bowl, add 3 cups of flour, yeast, and salt. While mixer is running, add water and 2 T. oil and mix for one minute. Then add the potato, mixing for an additional 2-3 minutes. Add in remaining flour slowly. You don't have to use it all, just until the dough is no longer very sticky. 

Turn dough out on to a lightly floured surface and kneed until the dough is smooth but still springy (usually only a minute or so for me). Return the dough to the mixing bowl, covered with a wet towel, and allow to rise for about an hour.

After the dough has risen, punch it down and place on a lightly floured surface. Divide in two and roll each into about a 9-inch round. Place dough into oiled pans (2 T. of oil per pan). You can manipulate the dough some to push it up the sides of the pans (see photo). Let rest for about 30 minutes. Fifteen minutes into this time I set my oven at 425 to preheat with the pizza stone inside.

Using a fork, prick all over the dough to allow the air to escape. I go right up to the edge which helps make a more defined and puffy crust. Put the pans in the oven on the pizza stone and bake for about 10 minutes.

Remove the pans with the semi-baked crusts from the oven and add sauce and toppings. These pizzas can handle a good bit of sauce since the crust is so substantial. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, until brown and crispy. I use a plastic knife to loosen each pizza so that it slides right out onto the cutting board for easy slicing.

This is one of our favorite pizza recipes! Enjoy!

Homemade Pizza: The Basic Recipe

We have a weekly pizza night at our house. Not only does everyone love pizza, it makes my meal planning a lot simpler to just eat it the same night each week.  Plus, pizza is one of those easy to order out meals, so making it at home helps us to avoid ordering pizza on a lazy day. 

It's so much cheaper to make myself, and while I won't pretend that I love when we do order out, I've gotten pretty good at making a decent pizza at home. Over the next several weeks I plan to share some of the different pizza recipes that I use. I get board of the same kind of homemade pizza each week very quickly. If we have the same kind too frequently I am much more likely to want to order out! So I rotate about 5 or 6 different pizza crusts and various toppings, although do cheese and pepperoni about every other week.

My basic pizza dough recipe comes from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book Bridal Edition cookbook, one that I got when we were first married. I like this one because it doesn't need any rise time, so it's perfect for last minute nights. 

My Kitchen Aid mixer is a lifesaver with all the pizza dough I make!

And since this dough is really simple, I usually brush the whole thing with olive oil before I add the sauce and toppings. Then I sprinkle some garlic salt or other seasoning on the crust to add just a bit more life to it!

Pizza Dough
from Better Homes and Gardens

2 3/4 to 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teasp. yeast
1/4 teasp. salt
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp. cooking oil

Beat 1 1/4 c. flour, yeast, salt, water and oil in a mixer for 30 seconds on low. Turn up to high and beat for 3 minutes. Gradually add as much remaining flour as possible while still maintaining a soft, pliable dough.

Turn dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead in enough flour so the dough is no longer sticky. I only knead for a minute, max. Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes, while the oven is preheating to 450 degrees. Make sure to place any stoneware in the oven while it is still cold.

Once the oven is heated, shape the dough into your desired shape using a rolling pin or hands. (Our pizzas are hardly ever perfectly round, and often end up rectangular :) they still taste great!). Make one large pizza or two slightly smaller and thinner crusts with this amount of dough. Place on pizza stone.

If desired, brush dough with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic/garlic salt. Top with homemade sauce and favorite cheese, plus pepperoni or other favorite toppings. Bake in 450 degree oven for about 13 minutes, or until cheese is browned. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before cutting to allow the toppings to set. Enjoy!