My kids love pizza, so pepperoni pizza is usually a surefire dinner win. But if I’m being honest, I rarely make pizza for my kids. I view pizza as a cheat night for me, and I get delivery.
So when I decided to make pizza at home, I knew it needed to be better than your average delivery. It needed tons of pepperoni, a nice crust, great flavor, and maybe even a surprise or two to put it over the top.
The Best Dough for Pizza
First, on the dough: Don’t get overwhelmed! If it’s your first time making pizza at home, just buy the dough. You can usually find pizza dough at the grocery store, or some pizza places will sell you a one-pound ball of dough for a few bucks.
If you want to try homemade pizza dough, start with a no-knead version. It’s very easy to make and practically failsafe.
Ingredients
Contadina(R) Quick Pizza Sauce:
½ (12 ounce) can CONTADINA® Tomato Paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Fleischmann’s® Easy Pizza Crust:
3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, or more as needed
2 (.25 ounce) envelopes FLEISCHMANN’S® Pizza Crust Yeast or RapidRise® Yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ⅓ cups very warm water (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F)
⅓ cup oil
Toppings:
1 (6 ounce) package HORMEL® Pepperoni
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, or more to taste
Directions
Instructions Checklist
Step 1
For sauce: Combine all sauce ingredients with 1/2 cup water in a medium bowl; set aside for flavors to develop while making crust. Freeze remaining paste .
Step 2
For crusts: Combine 2 cups of flour with the dry yeast, sugar and salt. Add the water and oil and mix until well blended (about 1 minute). Gradually add enough remaining flour slowly, until a soft, sticky dough ball is formed.
Step 3
Knead for about 4 minutes, on a floured surface, until dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour, if needed. (If using RapidRise® Yeast, let dough rest, covered, for 10 minutes.)
Step 4
Divide dough in half. Pat each half (with floured hands) into a 12-inch greased pizza pan OR roll dough to fit pans.
Step 5
For pizzas: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Top crusts with sauce, pepperoni and cheese.
Step 6
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until crusts are browned and cheese is bubbly. For best results, rotate pizza pans between top and bottom oven racks halfway through baking.