Pizza Night!

Like I've mentioned in my previous posts, J and I often make dinners together for our dates.  One of our favorite meals is pizza night.  Who doesn't love a fresh, homemade pizza?!  For Christmas, his parents got him a Pampered Chef pizza stone and a new pizza cutter.  Lucky me since it's not really mine, but I still get to use it! Ha! :)

The other night, we went to the store to get everything we needed: pizza dough mix, pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions, and mushrooms.  Ugh, mushrooms are gross, so obviously those were for J.  I love the dough mix we bought.  It's so easy to make and it tastes better than restaurant/store bought dough.  If you've never made pizza at home, I definitely recommend trying it.  Ours cost about $10 to make.  On top of that, we have a blast making it together and it's scrumptious!

Here are some pics from the other night, along with the how to's of making pizza yourself:  

1. Dusting your pan/stone with cornmeal is up for debate.  Some people like it, some people don't.  I strongly recommend using it.  It prevents the dough from sticking to your pan/stone, and the taste really pairs well with your pizza.  If you choose to use it, make sure you dust it on well though.  Not enough will leave you hanging with an unevenly baked dough.  And who wants that?  

2.  This next step varies on which type of dough you use.  We use Betty Crocker's Pizza Crust Mix.  For this mix, you just stir in hot water and let it rise for 5 minutes.  (We found a steal on this at Sharp Shopper, a local discount grocery store, for 2/$1!)  Once that's done, you can start spreading it on the pan/stone.  We like to oil our hands with olive oil to keep it from sticking to our fingers.  Then, just bake for a few minutes to help it puff up.  As you can see, we made ours thin.

   
3.  Next, add your sauce and toppings.  We do sauce, then pepperoni and sausage, then cheese, then veggies, and then more cheese.  Can never get enough cheese.  One of the best parts of making your own pizza is choosing what toppings you want and where you want them.  We did half mushroom/half none, since I'm not a fungus fan.   

 4.  Now, you're ready to bake!  Get ready for an awesome smelling kitchen.  We bake ours at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  When it's done, just let it cool and then slice it up!  We, personally, like square slices. :) 

All done and ready to be eaten!

And, that's it!  Pretty simple.  Fun to make with your family and kids, and in my opinion tastes better than any restaurant pizza.  Have fun with it and enjoy the quality time it creates with your family!