Who doesn’t love homemade pizza?
We were sitting on the couch a few years ago and I thought to myself, “I can’t even remember the last time I made a pizza.” I looked at my wife and asked, “Have I ever made you a pizza before?” “Never once,” was the reply. “We’ll have to change that, then!”
My first real part time job in high school was working at our local Boston Pizza. I started out doing dishes and mopping floors, graduated into my first prep cook position and then got promoted into cooking on the line. It was there where I first learned about kitchen work, kitchen hierarchy, kitchen cleanliness and commercial cooking. It was also there where I first learned about PIZZA!
Having cheffed and managed at multiple establishments, I fully understand that a massive amount of responsibility falls on the management and chefs to cover and maintain ‘cost per plate’. The restaurant business has a very fine profit margin and much of the time that profit margin is met or missed through portion sizing.
My old managers would cringe to hear me say this. The absolute key to amazing pizza is – way too many toppings and cheese! There’s no getting around it. Whatever you use for fillings, as long as there’s tons of them and it’s smothered with cheese, you can’t go wrong and you’ll be sure to have an awesome pizza.
There’s really no right or wrong way to make pizza, so this column is going to be a little out of the ordinary. You basically make or buy the crust, cover it with pizza sauce, add your toppings and then smother it with cheese.
I prefer to make my own crust using a crust mix. That way I can control the thickness. Bake it in the oven at 375°F for 12-15 minutes, or until the cheese turns a nice golden brown. That’s it! Easy as falling off a log.
Here are a few tips and tricks to try out next time you want to make a great homemade pizza.
- 1. Buy yourself a proper pizza tray. It makes all the difference.
- 2. For crispy crust, make your crust thin. For doughy crust make it thick.
- 3. Store-bought sauces are great. Add a bunch of oregano and basil to them.
- 4. Layer your toppings from flat to lumpy. IE: Meat slices on the bottom, peppers, pineapple on top.
- 5. Boston Pizza, when I worked there, used a 50-50 mix of mozzarella and brick for the cheese. In my opinion there is no finer pizza cheese. Lately I’ve been having trouble finding brick so I use a combination of mozzarella and cheddar.
- 6. If you are using chicken, seafood, pork or ground beef as a topping, be sure to fully cook it before you top your pizza with it. It won’t have time to cook properly on a pizza.
- 7. The thicker the crust, toppings and cheese, the longer it will take to cook.
- 8. Fresh tomatoes should almost always be added after the pizza is cooked.
Here are some of our favourite pizzas:
- Beef and onion
- Beef and mushroom
- Ham and pineapple
- Pepperoni
- Meat lover’s: ham, pepperoni, salami, ground beef
- Mediterranean: chicken, shrimp, green pepper, onions, mushroom, olives, feta cheese
- Spicy: nacho beef, red onion, jalapenos
- Texan: refried beans, ground beef, onions, jalapenos
- Mexican: salsa, nacho beef, black beans, onions, jalapenos, green peppers, guacamole for dipping.
- Nacho: nacho beef, onion, red and green peppers, tomatoes, olives, jalapenos, salsa and sour cream for dipping.
- Rueben: 1,000 island dressing (mixed in with the sauce), corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese
- BBQ: pulled pork, BBQ sauce, onion, jalapenos (you can also substitute chicken or beef)
- Seafood: shrimp, crab, lobster, green pepper, seafood sauce for dipping
- Meatball: onion, meatballs, green pepper
- Philly Cheesesteak: steak cubes, red and green peppers, onions, Cheez Whiz or provolone
You can add fresh tomato slices to just about all of these pizza combinations. There’s really no end to combinations. If you can think of it, you can make it. So go ahead, give it a try.
Start with something simple like ham and pineapple or beef and onion and then start experimenting with your favourite toppings and different cheeses. I’ll warn you that it’s a bit habit-forming, once you get started.And, yes. Just like back in college, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a slice of cold, leftover pizza and a beer for breakfast the next morning. Enjoy!
