I love making pizza. Sometimes I have good luck with it and sometimes I do not. There generally seem to be more times I do not. Something is always off. The crust is not to my liking or the toppings are not done or the mozzarella cheese is burned. So I do not make it often. Recently I had the opportunity to try a new crust from our friends at Giant Foods and WOW, what a difference. Read on to see how I was finally able to make a pizza at home that was blog-worthy.
This pizza dough from Giant is positively wonderful. What is the "hip" thing to say. It's the bomb!!! If that is the correct word, then this is the atom bomb of pizza dough. Thin and crispy, but not too thin. Just perfect. I admit that I am not perfect at everything. I am perfect at most things, but not everything. Making pizza dough is not something I would consider myself as being "perfect" at being able to do.
For ease of cleanup and to prevent the crust from sticking, I wrapped the pizza stone in parchment paper. When you are buying parchment, buy a small roll and a large. It is good to have both in the pantry. For the pizza stone, I used the large roll of parchment so I could cover it with one large sheet of parchment. For baking sheets, you can buy pre-cut parchment sheets to fit the baking pan. Of course, they are quite a bit more expensive than just buying the roll and cutting the parchment to fit, so I do not recommend doing that. In my opinion, it is not worth the added expense.
This crust is so easy to work with. You just remove it from the overwrap and unroll it. Place it on the parchment wrapped pizza stone. If it is not a perfect circle, it's OK.
I decided to make a very simple pizza this first time around. Nothing too fancy. I used about half of a 12 ounce can of Don Pepino's pizza sauce. I then added thinly sliced pepperoni and fresh, shredded mozzarella from a local Italian market and restaurant called "Three Brothers."
Don Pepino's has been around for many years and in my opinion, they truly have perfected the making of pizza sauce. They opened for business in 1950 and are still going strong. A true testament to their quality product.
This is the outside of "Three Brothers" restaurant and market.
And this is inside. To the far left is the deli counter with many cheeses, salamis, pepperoni, delicious fresh olives, and several freshly baked Italian pastries and desserts. We love this store and restaurant. If you are in the area, you should really plan on a meal from "Three Brothers." Click here to be taken to their website where you can find directions to any and all of their restaurants in the area. There is also a menu.
Back to the pizza. I bought a pound of shredded mozzarella and I used about half of it on this pizza. So eight ounces of shredded mozzarella should do, but if you want to add a little more, you can.
Into a 400 degree preheated oven for 12 minutes and this is what emerges. If you wanted, you could add chopped basil to the top. We decided to go very basic and added nothing and it was still most delicious. Definitely the best tasting pizza I have ever made at home and believe me, I've made many at home. We like this rolled pizza crust from Giant better than any of the pre-packaged pizza doughs on the market today. Give this a try the next time you get a hankering for pizza and you don't want to travel out to a restaurant or wait for the delivery guy.
This pizza dough from Giant is positively wonderful. What is the "hip" thing to say. It's the bomb!!! If that is the correct word, then this is the atom bomb of pizza dough. Thin and crispy, but not too thin. Just perfect. I admit that I am not perfect at everything. I am perfect at most things, but not everything. Making pizza dough is not something I would consider myself as being "perfect" at being able to do.
For ease of cleanup and to prevent the crust from sticking, I wrapped the pizza stone in parchment paper. When you are buying parchment, buy a small roll and a large. It is good to have both in the pantry. For the pizza stone, I used the large roll of parchment so I could cover it with one large sheet of parchment. For baking sheets, you can buy pre-cut parchment sheets to fit the baking pan. Of course, they are quite a bit more expensive than just buying the roll and cutting the parchment to fit, so I do not recommend doing that. In my opinion, it is not worth the added expense.
This crust is so easy to work with. You just remove it from the overwrap and unroll it. Place it on the parchment wrapped pizza stone. If it is not a perfect circle, it's OK.
I decided to make a very simple pizza this first time around. Nothing too fancy. I used about half of a 12 ounce can of Don Pepino's pizza sauce. I then added thinly sliced pepperoni and fresh, shredded mozzarella from a local Italian market and restaurant called "Three Brothers."
This is the outside of "Three Brothers" restaurant and market.
And this is inside. To the far left is the deli counter with many cheeses, salamis, pepperoni, delicious fresh olives, and several freshly baked Italian pastries and desserts. We love this store and restaurant. If you are in the area, you should really plan on a meal from "Three Brothers." Click here to be taken to their website where you can find directions to any and all of their restaurants in the area. There is also a menu.
Back to the pizza. I bought a pound of shredded mozzarella and I used about half of it on this pizza. So eight ounces of shredded mozzarella should do, but if you want to add a little more, you can.
Into a 400 degree preheated oven for 12 minutes and this is what emerges. If you wanted, you could add chopped basil to the top. We decided to go very basic and added nothing and it was still most delicious. Definitely the best tasting pizza I have ever made at home and believe me, I've made many at home. We like this rolled pizza crust from Giant better than any of the pre-packaged pizza doughs on the market today. Give this a try the next time you get a hankering for pizza and you don't want to travel out to a restaurant or wait for the delivery guy.
