Best Pizza Recipe
Here’s how to make a classic Italian homemade pizza recipe, with a tangy pizza sauce, gooey mozzarella, and a perfect chewy pizza crust.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 7 minutes
- Yield: 8 slices 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 ball Pizza Dough Master Recipe (or Food Processor Dough or Thin Crust Dough)
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup Easy Pizza Sauce
- 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or 2 to 3 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
- Parmesan cheese, for garnish
- 1 handful fresh basil leaves
- Semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting the pizza peel
Instructions
- Make the pizza dough: Follow the Pizza Dough Master Recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)
- Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).
- Make the pizza sauce: Make the Easy Pizza Sauce.
- Prepare the cheese: If using fresh mozzarella cheese, slice it into 1/4 inch thick pieces (see the photos of the pre-baked pizza above). If it’s incredibly watery fresh mozzarella (all brands vary), you may want to let it sit on a paper towel to remove moisture for about 15 minutes then dab the mozzarella with the paper towel to remove any additional moisture.
- Bake the pizza: When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see this video for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel.
- Spread a thin layer of the pizza sauce over the dough, using about 1/4 to 1/3 cup. Add the mozzarella cheese. Top with a thin layer of fresh grated Parmesan cheese and a few pinches of kosher salt.
- Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in a pizza oven).
- Allow the pizza to cool for a minute or two before adding the basil on top (whole leaves, lightly torn, or thinly sliced). Slice into pieces and serve immediately.
Find it online: https://www.acouplecooks.com/pizza-recipes/
