Question: Is there anything better than a homemade pizza and a salad?

[random3434]

Answer:

No, no there's not.

 

[Rat in the Hat]

Answer:

No, no there's not.

Yes there is. Sharing a homemade pizza, salad and a good bottle of wine with someone you love.

 

[Oddball]

Pepperoni and sausage on that pizza.

 

[Mr. H.]

I've yet to make a pizza at home that's anywhere close to restaurant/chain quality.

Little help?

 

[RadiomanATL]

Yes, homemade bread.

Speaking of which, back in 15...

 

[Mr. H.]

Yes, homemade bread.

Speaking of which, back in 15...

Stop loafing around.

 

[SFC Ollie]

Actually, once after a particularly difficult deployment, Pizza, wings, salad, and beer made us all think we had died and gone to heaven.

 

[California Girl]

Actually, once after a particularly difficult deployment, Pizza, wings, salad, and beer made us all think we had died and gone to heaven.

Funnily, that's the mantra of a lot of servicemen that I know.... pizza, beer and onion rings.

 

[Jeremy]

Home brewed beer.

 

[Annie]

I've yet to make a pizza at home that's anywhere close to restaurant/chain quality.

Little help?

Echo was speaking close to my heart. The past 2 months I've been making pizzas by the carload, well it seems like that. Right now I've 2 white crusts, and 3 wheat in my freezer.
I started with this recipe, which is just awesome:

Easy Pizza Dough - Fine Cooking Recipes, Techniques and Tips

I'd read the article, lots of good points are included, but here's the basic recipe. Depending how you choose to roll it out and temp of oven, it's either thin and crisp-very flaky or thicker and chewier:

Easy Pizza Dough
by Evan Kleiman
One Star Two Stars Three Stars Four Stars Five Stars read reviews (5)

You can make the dough a day or a couple of weeks ahead. Put the individual balls in zip-top bags and refrigerate overnight or freeze for longer.Yields four balls of dough for four individual 8-inch pizzas; 1-3/4 pounds total.
Test Kitchen Guaranteed

ingredient discovery
Ingredients active dry yeast olive oil all-purpose flour more more
1 package (2-1/4 tsp.) active-dry yeast
1-1/2 cups very warm water (110°F)
18 oz. (4 cups) all-purpose flour; more for dusting
1-1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. olive oil
Making and dividing the dough

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set aside (a Pyrex 2-cup measure makes for easy pouring; be sure the cup isn't cold). Meanwhile, put the flour and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade; process briefly to mix. With the machine running, add the water-yeast mixture in a steady stream. Turn the processor off and add the oil. Pulse a few times to mix in the oil.

Scrape the soft dough out of the processor and onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, quickly knead the dough into a mass, incorporating any bits of flour or dough from the processor bowl that weren't mixed in. Cut the dough into four equal pieces with a knife or a dough scraper. Roll each piece into a tight, smooth ball, kneading to push the air out.
Rising and storing the dough

What you do next depends on whether you want to make pizza right way or at a later date.

If you want to bake the pizzas as soon as possible, put the dough balls on a lightly floured surface, cover them with a clean dishtowel, and let them rise until they almost double in size, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, turn your oven on, with the baking stone in it, to let the stone fully heat.
Easy Pizza Dough In just 45 minutes, the dough is proofed. These dough balls are ready to be shaped.

If you want to bake the pizzas tomorrow, line a baking sheet with a floured dishtowel, put the dough balls on it, and cover them with plastic wrap, giving them room to expand (they'll almost double in size), and let them rise in the refrigerator overnight.

To use dough that has been refrigerated overnight, simply pull it out of the refrigerator about 15 minutes before shaping the dough into a pizza.

To freeze the dough balls, dust each one generously with flour as soon as you've made it, and put each one in a separate zip-top bag. Freeze for up to a month.

It's best to transfer frozen dough from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before (or 10 to 12 hours before) you want to use it. But I've found that dough balls pulled straight from the freezer and left to warm up on the counter will be completely defrosted in about 1-1/2 hours. The dough is practically indestructible.

...

I offer either alfredo sauce or my homemade pizza sauce version, based on the following. I make my own Italian seasonings, I try to keep sodium levels down.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=118550&origin=detail&servings=11

Homemade Pizza Sauce
Submitted By: Taste of Home Test Kitchen Cook Time: 35 Minutes Servings: 11
"Flavored with garlic, basil and Italian seasoning, this versatile sauce from our Test Kitchen staff will give Italian flair to all kinds of appetizing entrees. In fact, our home economists came up with the following two dishes that spotlight the zesty mixture."
Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 (29 ounce) can tomato puree
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, saute garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until sauce reaches desired thickness. Use in Deep-Dish Sausage Pizza, Tomato Artichoke Chicken or any recipe that calls for pizza sauce. Sauce may be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

I've had friends over for 'make your own pizza' gatherings, letting them choose from the following:

spinach
garlic
shredded onions
black and green olives
shredded peppers
cheeses-so many! I've used a combo purchase of whole milk and low fat, recommending that they use at least some of the whole milk for better melting
bacon
pepperoni
turkey Italian sausage-I precook, just too nervous about illness. My oven is NOT commercial grade
mushrooms
tomatoes
broccoli
bar b que chicken

Now some of my friends are doing the same.

I will admit, I've been using the bread maker to make the dough. Each recipe I make 4 balls of dough, so I've built up a supply in the freezer. Truly can't tell the difference between those frozen and those used after the rising on the counter.

Very cost effective dinner, especially if meat is left off of, healthy too!

 

[RadiomanATL]

Yes, homemade bread.

Speaking of which, back in 15...

8 minutes!

I'm gettin' good.

 

[RadiomanATL]

Home brewed beer.

Dude, if I had room in my house....

 

[Jeremy]

We like making little pizzas on english muffin halves.

Just top muffin half with pizza sauce, cheese & topping, pop in the oven and whalla!

yum yum

 

[Lumpy 1]

I like lobster, a baked potato and an avocado salad... throw in some vino and my most beautiful wife.

Pizza compared to that.. I don't think so..

mmm.. she does make great American pizza though...

 

[Jeremy]

Home brewed beer.

Dude, if I had room in my house....

true dat

 

[manifold]

No.

My wife makes pizza that rivals anything you can get in the North End.

True story

 

[RadiomanATL]

No.

My wife makes pizza that rivals anything you can get in the North End.

True story

She's on my list now.

 

[Paulie]

Home brewed beer.

Dude, if I had room in my house....

There's no such thing as no room for beer.

 

[RadiomanATL]

Home brewed beer.

Dude, if I had room in my house....

There's no such thing as no room for beer.

Oh, I have room for beer. It's the room for a brewing area that I don't have. You have to have a relatively stable temperature, with little disturbance. I can do it in the master closet, but one little thing goes wrong and I have beer spewing out of the thing all over the place. And onto all our clothes and all over the floor. Every other place and the kids would start messing with it.

A basement would be awesome, but right now we have a slab.

 

[RadiomanATL]

I think it needs to be dark too.