Pizza! Seven different ways.....

As I have gotten older, I have come to realize that I love pizza now just as much, if not more, than I did as a teenager. Pizza is one of those foods that in my mind is a food category of its own. I mean you have Mexican, German, Italian, American, French, Greek, and lots of others, and then you have pizza. There are so many different possibilities that you can do with pizza ingredients and so many different combinations of those ingredients. You can make calzones, rolls, casseroles, breads, balls, dips, or just normal pizza. Then there are the different kinds of pizza, such as supreme, meat-lovers, Hawaiian, pepperoni, veggie, or just cheese.  Below I have included a few different possibilities of the different things you can try. Enjoy! 

 

First let's try a casserole....

Pizza Casserole

 

1 can Grand biscuits

1 package pepperoni (cut into fourths)

1 package of Italian Sausage (browned)

1 jar of pizza or spaghetti sauce

2 cups mozzarella cheese

*Any other pizza ingredients you like on pizza

Preheat oven to 375. Cut biscuits into 1/8 pieces and drop into a greased 13x9 baking pan or casserole dish until bottom is covered. Mix sauce, pepperoni, Italian sausage and any other toppings you normally enjoy. Put mix over top of biscuits, covering as much a possible. Cover top with cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Pizza Balls

Original Recipe from Pillsbury

6 to 8 tablespoons Butter, melted 

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 

2 cans (12 oz each) Pillsbury® Grands!® Jr. Golden Layers® refrigerated flaky original biscuits 

40 small slices pepperoni (about 3 oz) 

8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into 20 pieces 

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

1 1/4 cups pizza sauce, heated

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 12-cup fluted tube pan with cooking spray. In small bowl, mix melted butter, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Separate 1 can of dough into 10 biscuits; press or roll each into 3-inch round. Place 2 pepperoni slices in center of each biscuit round. Top each with piece of mozzarella cheese. Bring dough up around filling; press edge to seal and shape each into ball. Roll in butter mixture; place 10 balls in pan. Sprinkle dough balls with Parmesan cheese. Repeat with remaining can of biscuits, placing balls over balls in pan. Pour remaining butter mixture over top. 

Bake 33 to 38 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Gently loosen bread from sides of pan. Place large heatproof plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Remove pan. Serve warm with warm pizza sauce for dipping.

Above is the original recipe, but I have done these on a sheet pan just lined up next to each other and I have done different ingredients such as using Canadian Bacon and pineapple with the cheese, or adding Italian sausage, pieces of mushrooms, olives, and peppers to make a supreme.

Basic Pizza Dough

 

This is a basic pizza dough recipe that my family has made for 35 years or more. We've experimented with others but this is the best.

 

1 package of active yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 Tablespoons of olive oil
3-3 1/2 cups of flour
Extra olive oil to coat the bowl

Mix yeast, water, salt, sugar and olive oil well. Let set for 2 or 3 minutes to make sure the yeast totally dissolves. Gradually add in flour until the dough starts to form a ball. I use a Kitchen-Aid with the dough hook, so it does the kneading for you. If you are mixing by hand, knead dough on a floured surface for 3 to 5 minutes. Coat large bowl with olive oil leaving a small amount (1/2 teaspoon) in bottom of bowl. Put kneaded dough in bowl, flipping immediately so oiled side is facing up. Cover with plastic wrap, make sure you spray the wrap so the dough won't stick. Let rise for 45 minutes.

At this point you have a few options on how to use the dough. You can make regular pizzas, pizza bread rolls, or pizza rolls. You can also shorten the time you let the dough rise to about 20 minutes then stick in the refrigerator to use later.

Regular pizza

 

Divide dough into 2 and spread out each half on a round cookie sheet. Unless you refrigerate you dough, you want to spread your dough on the pan until dough touches the edges. (Putting the dough in the refrigerator makes it easier to handle if you are planning to roll it out prior to putting it on the pan.) Top with your favorite pizza topping and bake for 23 minutes.

Breakfast Pizza

 

This makes 4 personnel pizzas or two medium pizzas

1 recipe of pizza dough (made the night before and put in refrigerator)
4 eggs
2 cups of shredded cheese
Toppings of your choice: Cooked breakfast sausage or bacon (crumbled), mushrooms, peppers, onions, basically any thing you want
1 Tablespoon Butter

Preheat oven to 425. Set pizza dough out in warm area for about 15 to 20 minutes to rise. Divide into 2 to 4 pieces, and roll out on floured surface, shaping into circles making a rim of thicker flour on edge. Place on greased baking sheet. Top pizzas with topping of your choice and cheese. Right before putting pizzas in oven top with egg. You can beat the egg or add it whole (yoke will be cooked hard). Bake for 23 minutes. Butter outside edge of crusts, serve warm.

Pizza Rolls

 

1 recipe of  pizza dough
2 cups mozzarella cheese
2 cups pizza or spaghetti sauce
Pizza toppings of your choice: pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, olives, peppers, Canadian bacon, jalapenos, pineapple, etc.
1 Tablespoon Butter, softened


Preheat oven to 425. In a bowl, mix sauce and all toppings except the cheese. Sauce should be thick. Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface into a rectangle. Spread topping mix over dough leaving about an inch on far side of dough. Cover mix with cheese. Roll dough up into long log. Cut into about 2 inch pieces, setting each piece on a greased cookie sheet cut side up. Let rise for 20 minutes, then bake for 23 minutes. Immediately butter sides and top using a pastry brush. Let cool slightly, 3-5 minutes before serving.

Calzones

1 recipe of  pizza dough (make prior and put in refrigerator)
2 cups mozzarella cheese
Pizza toppings of your choice: pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, olives, peppers, Canadian bacon, jalapenos, pineapple, etc.
1 Tablespoon Butter, softened 1 1/4 cup pizza or spaghetti sauce, warmed

 Preheat oven to 425. Set pizza dough out in warm area for about 15 to 20 minutes to rise. Divide into 4 pieces, and roll out on floured surface, shaping into circles. Place dough circles on to greased cookie sheet, you can let part of the dough hang over the edge of pan. Top half of circle with toppings of your choice and cheese. An easy way to do the ingredients is to mix them together in a bowl before putting them on the dough. Once toppings are on the dough, fold over other half  and seal using a fork. on edges. If dough has trouble sticking, brush edges lightly with water. Bake for 23 minutes. Butter immediately after pulling out of oven and serve with warmed sauce.

Pizza Bread Roll

 

1 recipe of  pizza dough
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Pizza toppings of your choice: pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, olives, peppers, Canadian bacon, jalapenos, pineapple, etc.
1 Tablespoon Butter, softened 

1 1/4 cup pizza or spaghetti sauce, warmed

Preheat oven to 425.  Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface into a rectangle. Spread topping of your choice over dough leaving about an inch on far side of dough. Cover mix with cheese.

Roll dough up into long log. Starting this can be difficult so a second pair of hands will come in handy. Once you get it rolled up, transfer the log onto a greased cookie sheet. This is another time that a second pair of hands is needed.




 
Bake for 23 minutes, buttering outside immediately after coming out of oven. The picture above is before the butter, the one below is after the buttering. Buttering the dough gives it a beautiful shine and softens the crust just a little bit.

Slice into pieces about 2 to 3 inches and serve with warm pizza/spaghetti sauce. Enjoy.