Homemade Pizza: The quick and easy way

Abbey
May 5, 2018
4 min read

When I lived alone my senior year I made a lot of homemade pizzas. I am a pizza junkie, but buying pizza is just so expensive so this was a pretty good and cheap alternative.

First step in any pizza is the crust. So a good and easy way is to use frozen rolls. Walmart has a package of Rhoades rolls with 72 in it that you can keep in the freezer for whenever you need them.

These are pretty great because you can control the serving size. If you want a small single serving you can just make 1 or 2. I have the appetite of a teenage boy so I use about 4-5. When you're setting them up to rise, I like to put them close together and even stack one on top so as they rise they combine into 1 hunk of dough and make your job easier.

These do take a little bit of prep has they need to rise. So if you know you're going to want to make them later put them out 4-5 hours ahead of time. Make sure to cover them with saran wrap so they don't get crusty.

If it's more of a "in the moment thing", you can also use the speed rise technique. This still takes about 1.5-2 hrs. You just warm up the oven to 200 degrees and boil some water. Then turn the oven off and put the water in a oven safe container and in the oven. Then put the rolls in on the pan you will cook them on and let them do their thing.

After they are done rising you can start rolling them out and stretching them thin. Try to press more than stretch because once it rips its hard to get it back together. Honestly, this is something you just got to figure out for yourself. Biggest tip is to go thinner than you think you'll need to because they will rise in the oven. Also, don't leave a very big crust for the same reason.

Once it's stretched out take some corn meal and sprinkle it under the dough. It goes further than you think. It's usually a pinch on each side. This makes all the difference in how the bottom of the pizza turns out and makes it come off the pan so much easier when it's done.

I'm just going to tell you right now, it won't be a perfect circle. It just won't happen with this dough. It's ok. That picture is probably the best I've done. If you want to season your crust with like butter and garlic or something do it now.

So on the same train as keeping the dough balls in your freezer, you can keep a jar or two of pizza sauce. If you're on this ride solo then 1 jar at a time should be fine. I think sauce is the most important part to whether this is a win for you so find what works for you and don't give up on this if it isn't right the first time. I actually found the store generic brands at Kroger and Walmart to be good. My favourite store brought brand is from GFS, but it comes in a bulk size. I recently found a great recipe for sauce included in this post.

So go ahead and spread this on liberally, to taste. Whether you put it on thick or thin is up to you, but just make sure to try to get it as even as possible, but don't spend too much time trying to get it perfect. Use a large spoon and just plop it down and then use the back of the spoon to spread and do that until it's covered.

Toppings! Of course if you just want a cheese pizza, skip to the next section. Now I prefer my pepperoni on top of the cheese usually, but recently I tried putting them under the cheese and I think in this case it works out better. It seems to hold the different parts together better and the grease isn't as bad. So throw on whatever you want, but keep in mind the more toppings you have the longer it will take to cook. Edit: I stopped doing this because it doesn't actually seem to make a difference. Now I put them on top and turn the broiler on for a few minutes at the end of cook time to get them nice and crispy. I prefer them on top, but you can do either.

So now here comes the cheese. So most people use mozzerella in this case and that's fine with this dough, but recently I read that provolone is better. I haven't been able to find shredded provolone alone so I use the slices. I found it to be better, but it's your pizza you can use mozzarella if you prefer or even a blend. Don't go crazy with the cheese because it will take longer to cook and increase the grease.

Once everything's on the dough it's time to cook. I usually cook it at 420 degrees for 15 mins. This will depend on your oven and how much is on the pizza. I have a little bit of trouble getting the crust to be done at the same time as the toppings. Edit: Now I use the broiler to help get the top right. The pizza is done when the crust is golden. If the top looks like it's getting done too much faster than the crust, cover it with tin foil. Apparently that will help the crust cook faster.

Since writing this, I bought a pizza stone and it does wonders to the crust. It makes it a little harder to get it into the oven, but it takes the pizza to the next level and gets the crust to where it should be.

This is the finished picture of one I made the other day. I forgot to take the picture before the first cut.