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Wednesday
Jan282009

Easy Homemade Pizza

January2009 005A quick and easy pizza recipe from guest author Helen Poore.


I was at a party the other night and apparently the new social game is to have cards with questions on them that each guest has to answer. I'm not sure why just good food, drink and conversation isn't enough these days, but being the polite person that I am, I went along.  My question was "if today was your last day alive, what would be your final meal".  What I really wanted to say was "a pack of cigarettes, a strong manhattan and pills that would keep me alive"  but, I didn't, instead, I said the first thing that came to mind, pizza.  I love pizza. 


The hardest part about making your own pizza is the dough, so I went to the local pizza restaurant and asked if I could buy just the dough.  To my surprise, they said yes!  So, here is my easy, lazy make it yourself at home pizza recipe.  If you can't find fresh pizza dough, the one in the refrigerated case in the grocery store is actually pretty good.


Easy Homemade Pizza


preheat oven to 375




  • pizza dough




  • 1 tablespoon olive oil




  • 1 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes (I like Rosa)




  • 1 tablespoon basil




  • 2 garlic cloves, minced




  • 1 bag shredded Italian mix cheese




  • toppings of choice



drizzle 1/4 tablespoon olive oil onto cookie sheet and roll out dough to cover pan then drizzle another 1/4 tablespoon olive oil over dough


Meanwhile, pour remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in skillet and sauté garl ic.  Add undrained crushed tomatoes and basil and heat until hot.  Spread the sauce over the dough and bake for 15.  Remove from oven, add whatever toppings you like, sprinkle entire pizza with cheese and continue baking for another 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. 

Reader Comments (7)

Uh oh, sometimes it's a slippery slope from "easy" to "Philistine." Let's be careful with pizza.

I suggest using pesto as the sauce. Then lots of wilted spinach with some garlic mixed in, topped with shredded/crumbled Gorgonzola.

This has become (in)famously known as Dave's Euro Trash Pizza. Long story, buy me a drink and I'll tell ya...
January 28, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterheydave
p.s. I would have gone with Cuban cigars and single malt scotch for a final meal, but, hey. It's all good, as the kids say.
January 28, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterheydave
I would never underestimate the art of pizza! Pizza is sacred. But, I might add that the true, authentic Italian pizza is nothing more then a dough made of water, yeast and flour, a topping of crushed tomatoes and basil with fresh whole sliced mozzarella cheese....period. Although I am not opposed to a "gourmet" pizza, basically anything with bread and cheese wins me over!
January 28, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterHelen
Hey, I just made pizza last night! I did make homemade dough this time (easy), but I agree the premade is handy. I used tomato paste straight from the can we liked the intense tomato flavor and that crust stayed nice and crisp. Lastly, found a tip on cooking in cast iron skillet, tried that, worked like a charm. What's not to love about pizza?!
January 28, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterHeather
I can't believe this. I made pizza last night too! This must be some sort of weird Home Cooks telepathy. Do you suppose we're all doing other things on the same night too? Never mind. I don't think we really need to know. I made my pizza with whole wheat store bought dough (which was surprisingly good), didn't prebake it and didn't use any oil on it (except a little on the pizza stone). I used a plain old little can of tomato sauce, cheese and a lot of chopped veggies. Easy and awfully good. It makes me wonder -- what do they do at those pizza delivery places to make them taste so awful?

January 28, 2009 | Unregistered Commentertrevy thomas
That's easy - if you live in a college town you find that the delivery places are staffed by kids on "too many/not enough/not the right kind" drugs.

Plus, they follow a corporate recipe, printed out in pictures, that successfully excises any and all personal touch out of the equation. Voila', you have the Velveeta of Pizza!
January 29, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterheydave
Dave, it sounds like you have some experience with pizza delivery and, dare I say, the not enough/not right kind of drugs thing. I'm beginning to see where your wit comes from :) And I agree about corporate recipes -- all about the profit; not enough about the flavor. Sometimes it's good to just be the little guy -- in girl in this case.
January 30, 2009 | Unregistered Commentertrevy thomas

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