Pizza Night

my guide, paired with an Italian Chopped Antipasto Salad

My pizza obsession runs deep. I have very strong opinions about it and have gone down the rabbit hole to discover ways to make it better at home. If you are a busy person, who loves pizza but have never made it at home, this post if for you. Don’t get me wrong, I will order pizza for pickup or delivery in a pinch when I just don’t have the bandwidth but when you learn how easy it is to make great pies in your own kitchen, the possibilities are endless and it’s a lot of fun.

I’m going to be straight up with you, this is not a make your own dough post because that takes way too much foresight, time, and effort. Have I made my own dough? YES. Is it outstanding? YES. Is it worth it? DEPENDS.

Here’s how I look it at. If you’re trying to get really fancy and have a pizza party and will be serving a good number of pizzas, it’s worth learning, because it is delicious and if you have the time, you can freeze dough ahead and have dough at your fingertips whenever you need it. Back in the time of lockdown I joined the bandwagon and learned how to make incredible sourdough bread, and by way of that, learned how to make insane sourdough pizza dough with my starter. My starter, rest in peace, came through and gave the pizza what it needed and we in fact ate our body weight in it.

If you are looking to explore the land of homemade dough and have time to do it, my favorite recipe is from Alexandra Cooks. She wrote a gorgeous book on pizza recently and all her dough recipes for pizza and bread for that matter have not only worked great for me but are delicious and well explained. Her other recipes are great too so if you’re not familiar with her, give her a follow.

I will be teaching you how to shortcut pizza at home that will have you picking up dough once a week at your local grocery store or pizza place. I’m also sharing my recipe for a very “pizza joint” inspired chopped salad that is great to balance the heavy load of carbs and cheese.

Here are my “rules” that I’ve learned about homemade pizza that help yield the pie of your dreams: