Pizza is one of my most favorite foods. It’s something that I enjoy in all its various transformations from Chicago deep dish, to New York hand tossed, to super duper thin crust.
At home I often make thin crust but have sometimes made one with a slightly thicker crust that actually bakes up in my cast iron skillet. Tonight I decided to go with the thin crust version though.
I generally use recipes for crust that require one rise but recently (when I decided at the last minute I needed pizza) I found this recipe on The Kitchn. I absolutely love it! It’s very easy and comes out just as good as others I’ve made. I do let it rest in the bowl just a bit but that’s much better than an hour or two.
Usually when making pizza I just take a quick inventory of what I have on hand that would make good toppings. The last time we made pizza we had some leftover pulled pork so we put that on there with some veggies. Tonight these were the combos we made:
Pizza #1: garlic scape pesto*, summer squash, sliced spring onion, swiss chard, fresh mozzarella
Pizza #2: garlic scape pesto*, summer squash, sliced spring onion, spicy chicken sausage, fresh mozzarella
*For garlic scape pesto I mix basil, garlic scapes, walnuts, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper in my food processor until it’s smooth.
Pizza #1-I love how the cheese gets all brown and bubby.
Surprisingly, just altering one ingredient in each pizza made them look and taste quite different. Usually ours vary more, but tonight’s were just as tasty.
Pizza #2-There's just a thin layer of chard between the squash and pesto.
If you make pizza often, I would suggest getting a pizza stone if you can. They really make the crust super crisp and you can also use them for baking bread so I actually have one for each rack of my oven! I’d be lost without them.
I really enjoy making pizzas like these because they are very effortless but seem really fancy when they come out of the oven. Also, since they cook up so fast they are a great option to cut small for appetizers if you are hosting a party, or have a dinner party where you make several kinds of pizza that everyone can sample from.
When you make pizza at home do you keep it traditional or mix it up?
Pizza stones are the best! I use it for EVERYTHING (cookies, pizza, biscuits, you name it!).
Great ideas, Erika!
Wait Deanna…. you use your stone for more than pizza?!?! W-H-A-T?!! Can you do a quickie post for the end of pizza week with all the details?! I’ve never thought to use it for anything else… I’m pizza stone-curious.
Just dropped in to say I really love y’alls blog! It’s one of my favorites. What a cool community y’all have! Thanks for all the delicious foods and super pics.
I like the concept and the collaboration. Keep up the great work!!!!
Hey Zoe,
I’m butting into Erika’s post to say a big “THANK YOU” for the kind comments about the blog. We are very lucky to have a team of amazing contributors and all be friends too! Its fun! Thanks for reading, and we hope we continue to hear from you!!!
- Christina, Editor & Founder
Thank you as well Zoe!
Yep I use the pizza stone a lot. One is actually broken into 3 pieces but I shoved them together so I can still use it.
I’ve even seen online these crazy awesome huge ones you can get too. Hopefully someday I’ll have at least one.