Pizza Pizza

Most pizza recipes probably start out with a recipe for dough....but not mine!

I've made my own dough using a bunch of different recipes.

It's a lot of mess. Not really work, but mess with all the flower and the rolling and the waiting. Okay, so it's the waiting that I don't like.

My solution, and Mom I'm sure is proud of me for this, is to simply buy pre-made dough.

Oh! The Horror!

Oh - chill out. You usually buy pasta from A STORE. It's much easier and once you find one you like it makes pizza night way more fun that slaving over dough. I live in the South so I have Harris Teeter's all around and their dough is great. You could also go to a local pizza shop and buy some from them. Just don't buy it frozen unless you want to wait two days for it to thaw.
 

Now that you have procured the dough, let's talk about what makes this not-quite-homemade recipe so good. It's the sauce. My sister, AD, came up with this recipe and I've stolen it and I love it and I don't feel the least bit sorry. I will credit her with the title:

 

Adrienne's Awesome Pizza Sauce

1 Stick Boar's Head Pepperoni. *It Must Be This Pepperoni*

1 Large Can Plain Tomato sauce

1 tsp Olive Oil

1-3 cloves Garlic

1/4 of an onion, diced finely

Crushed Red Pepper Flakes to taste. I use about a teaspoon

Pre-heated pizza stone in a 400 degree oven or, in a pinch, aluminum covered baking sheet with something non-stick on it. I usually sprinkle grits on the pan as well.  Just a little. 

 

Heat up the Oil on Medium in a Medium sized Sauce pan. Soften the onion. You don't want it to brown too much.

 

Dice the pepperoni into discs and then quarters. (Like a pizza!) Put about 1/3 of it into the pan with the softening onion and oil. As the pepperoni starts to brown, add the garlic for just a minute or two.   I leave the garlic cloves whole and let it cook with the sauce, being careful not to ladle it on to the pizza.

 

 

Take off the heat, let it stop sizzling. Add the Can of Tomato Sauce and the Red Pepper Flakes. Stir.  Cook uncovered on low for as long as you can stand it. Let it bubble and stir occasionally - tomato sauce has a lot of sugar and will burn quickly if you don't babysit a little. You'll smell the difference when it changes from a raw tomato smell to a cooked, saucy (yeah! Saucy!) smell. Maybe an hour. If you don't want to wait that long, well, then, don't! Give it at least 20 minutes though.

 

While that's going on, you can prep the pizza dough, get out the cheese, etc.

 

This sauce is enough for two good sized pizzas.

 

I roll out the crusts, CAREFULLY place on the ATOMICALLY HOT pizza stone. Then brush with olive oil and poke holes with a fork. Bake for 5-10 minutes, just before it starts to rise.

Remove from oven. (duh!)

 

Top with sauce, cheese, the rest of the pepperoni, and whatever else you like. I use mozzarella and the cheap-o Italian blend. About half a package of each. 

 

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, or until cheese is melting and crust is cooked.

 

 

I often just make one pizza and then save the sauce for next time. Makes pizza night CRAZY easy when you have homemade sauce ready to go.


 

Hope you like it!