The Ben and Shanda (Pizza)

P.I.Z.Z.A.
Ultimate party food. Perfect comfort food. Reasonable indulgence.
What's not to love?
You can pile on whatever you love when you make it at home. Favorite veggies, craft sausage, artisan cheese, fresh herbs, the possibilities go on and on.

We began homemade pizza night some 8 years ago and have it almost weekly now. There have definitely been upgrades along the way; the two that stand out the most are a baking steel and our go-to dough. Pepperoni + jalapenos + cream cheese is a throwback to a pie that a pizza joint in our mutual undergraduate college town had on a secret menu.

There were a few different dough recipes I played around with in the early years, most of them I can't even recall enough to describe or give. Dough from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day authors has been my HG for some five years and I likely won't ever find one better that is easier. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day has pizza dough recipes, but we have a permanent container of the classic recipe in our fridge. It works perfectly fine. It also means baguettes, English muffins, pita, and sourdough starter are all on hand because this dough can do it ALL.

Now, our oven set up. I went through a phase where I tried using a baking stone, two broken stones later I finally invested in a baking steel. Never will I again have to worry about shattering a hot stone with cold dough. Homemade breads, and especially pizza, are on a whole other level now.

If you don't have a baking stone or steel to help with your crust crispness, you can still fake a nice charred crust! Bake according to the rest of my directions until the top is as dark as you would like while preheating a large stainless or cast iron pan on the stove to medium-high heat. Instead of taking the pie out to rest on a cooling rack, add a couple teaspoons of high heat oil (canola, safflower, or avocado) and shimmy the pie off the parchment paper into the hot pan. Continue cooking until the crust is as dark as you would like. We go for "brick oven" dark with a few charred spots.

1. Pre-heat your oven to 500F. We keep a baking steel on the bottom rack, so we wait about 20 minutes after the oven has reached temperature to then prepare the dough. Roll out the dough with flour and place on parchment paper on a peel or backside of a half sheet pan. If you are baking on a regular cookie sheet, see my main post notes. Leave the cream cheese in the fridge until actively adding to the toppings, it's easier to work with when very cold.

2. Spread the marinara sauce into a thin layer with a spoon. Evenly sprinkle the cheese across the sauce. YES, sauce then cheese then toppings. This is better for home oven pizza baking so that the cheese doesn't trap the moisture of other ingredients and make your crust soggy. Slice small pieces of cream cheese and spread out evenly across the pie. Add pickled jalapenos and pepperoni last.

3. Slide the pie into the oven with the parchment paper and all. Bake for 6-9 minutes or until the top or bottom of the crust are as dark as you prefer. Place on a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes (it's torture to wait, but you want the cheese to set a little). Slice into 4 or 6 pieces and serve! A salad on the side is a classic for a reason and rounds out the meal.

We like to come up with other flavors almost like a game.
Diced Tomato-Olive-Goat Feta:

Kale and Bacon:
The kale was given a brief rub with olive oil and pressed on top got quite crispy like kale chips! Yum.