Fantabulous Family Style Pizza Recipes

Steps:

• Combine warm water, yeast, and honey; let sit 5 minutes to dissolve and activate yeast.
• Stir together yeast mixture, water, olive oil, salt, and 1 cup flour; gradually add remaining flour, stirring, until dough comes together; knead (I use a KitchenAid stand mixer) for 10 minutes until soft, smooth, and elastic.
• Turn dough into a large oiled bowl; cover and allow to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour until doubled.
• Preheat oven to 450°; (to make an extra-large thick-crust pizza) spray a 12x17" baking sheet with no-stick cooking spray then sprinkle the sheet lightly with cornmeal; set aside.
• Punch down dough; turn out on a lightly floured surface and press dough out thinly into a fairly large rectangular shape; lift and transfer dough onto prepared baking sheet; press dough outward until it covers the baking sheet; form a ridge around the outer edge.
• Parbake pizza crust for 3-4 minutes (This is a good time to make your pizza sauce - Just stir the sauce ingredients together and it's done!).
• Remove parbaked pizza crust from oven and pat down any overly-puffed-up spots using with the palm of your hand or a clean kitchen towel; spread sauce evenly over surface of pizza crust; top pizza with layers of low-moisture part-skim Mozzarella cheese and your choice of pepperoni, canadian bacon, cooked sausage, sliced black olives, mushrooms, chopped green peppers, etc; lastly sprinkle a small amount of Cheddar cheese (for a bit of extra color) over the very top.
• Return pizza to oven and bake and additional 15 minutes until crust is golden-brown and cheese is melted, bubbly, and just beginning to brown.
• VARIATION: To make two 13" thin and crispy pizzas, decrease rising time of dough by about half and (here's the secret to a really good thin and crispy crust) place pizza stone into oven; preheat oven AND pizza stone to 450°.
• Punch down dough; divide into 2 equal portions; turn portions, one at a time, out on a lightly floured surface and press dough as thinly as possible into about about a 10" circular shape.
• Remove the hot pizza stone from the oven (place it onto the stove-top or onto a double-folded bath-towel set on the kitchen counter) and sprinkle it with cornmeal; carefully move dough (circle) onto the preheated pizza stone; continue pressing dough circle outward to cover pizza stone and form an outer ridge; and don't worry if you hear a faint sizzling sound or see bubbles forming in the uncooked dough during this step, that's what seems to always happens here!
• Parbake pizza crust for 3-4 minutes; remove from oven, pat down, and top as instructed above; return pizza to oven for 12-13 minutes until done. Enjoy!

Steps:

• Place crusts on an ungreased baking sheet; spread with pesto. Layer with mozzarella cheese, onion, mushrooms and peppers; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400° until cheese is melted, 10-12 minutes.