Shortly after the kids ran madly from the school bus, returning home from school, they rushed into the house with excitement knowing that they were going to Rocky Rococo. Rocky Rococo, I think, is a midwestern pizza joint, where in the past, they served up some fairly descent pizza. It was not thin crust, or deep dish, but it was a pizza unlike no other. It was, in my opinion a Sicilian style pizza. I remember it being good.

When we arrived, three people were in the very large restaurant (not a good sign on a Thursday night at 6pm), and we ordered from the somewhat, hectic manager. My eyes looked upward at their menu, and as my kids rattled off what they wanted (cheese, cheese and pepperoni x2), I decided I would go with the classic cheese and sausage. That cheese and sausage is what I remembered the last time I had Rocky Rococo’s.

The fierce intensity of making these pizzas was beginning to annoy me. I like to watch people in the kitchen cooking my food, so don’t get me wrong. What was so stressful about making four pizzas that arrive in rectangular boxes, a box design that was totally out of style? These are not enormous, single serving slices. No clue, but about twenty minutes later, our pizzas arrived. By the way, no one else had arrived to order since that time.

My first bite. Gnarly, and not in a good way. 20 minutes? Stress upon taking my order, and panic on knowing how to cook a classic? Not impressed. But as I talked about the day with my kids (the best part of the meal), they were not phased about how unpleasant I was, and furthermore, my oldest asked if he could have another ‘square’. My time is precious with my kids, so as the good father that I am, I went back to the stressed out manager and asked for another slice of cheese and pepperoni slice, or rectangle,or whatever shape, only hoping that I was not going to have to wait another 20 minutes for a slice of pizza!

With that experience, I decided that I will never go back to that Rocky Rococo. I’m sorry to say that, as after all it is an establishment that I would like to support in my neighborhood.  A classic joint with some history, but I’m sorry, your pizza did not cut it. Hence why I decided to make my own, and I will not call it Rocky Rococo style pizza, but instead a Sicilian style pizza.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• My pizza dough, or  about 2 lbs of pre-made pizza dough
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp dried oregano, pinched with your fingers
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• 15 oz can of tomato sauce
• 3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Pepperoni slices to cover, leaving 1 inch gaps
• Fresh Italian sausage, pinched, casings removed (optional)
• Sardines, flaked (optional)
• 1/2 cup red onion (diced), optional
• Black olives, sliced, optional
• Grated parmesan cheese, optional
• Your favorite pizza ingredients, optional

My kids are still, believe it or not, in the basic pizza eating style. They like either cheese, cheese and sausage, or cheese and pepperoni. I will focus on a 50/50 cheese and sausage/cheese and pepperoni, but as the man that I am, I recommend the red onion, sardines, and olives. You know what you like, so go for it. Just stick with the dough and process, and you should be good to go.

Begin by making the dough. Let it rise. It takes a few hours, so take that into consideration, or make the dough the night before, let it get to a good warmth and let the yeast do its thing.  Take in the smells. Nothing better than a kitchen that smells like yeasty dough!

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, fahrenheit.

So you have the dough. Lightly flour it, very lightly. Take a large sheet tray, or at least 18×13, if not larger. Add the olive oil to the the sheet tray, and make sure the base is coated. Take your risen dough and place into the center of the tray. Begin massaging the dough, attempting to stretch the dough, without tearing it, to the edges of the sheet tray. Do your best.

Once you think you’ve done your best without tearing, shower it with the salt, pepper, and oregano. Cover the sheet tray and let it rise another hour, or so.

Once the dough rises a bit more, add the sauce, and gently spread all over the dough, lightly, not too heavy.

Add the mozzarella cheese, coating the sauce, then add your favorite ingredients. I was down for simple pepperoni, and sausage.

Place in a preheated oven for  about 35 minutes. What you are looking for is golden, crispy edges, a nice melted and golden cheese  crust in the center, and well, something better than Rocky Rococo’s.

Once cooked, take the sheet pan out of the oven and let it rest for about ten minutes for slicing into it.

Cut into long rectangular shapes and enjoy.

I’ve made this about four different times, and every time it delivers a crunch exterior with a fluffy interior, only to be enjoyed with your favorite toppings. Not only that, but you make a whole sheet of pizza for dirt cheap! I think I walked out of Rocky Rococo’s paying something like thirty dollars. Mine, about eleven dollars, and a much better experience. Enjoy.

By the way, my kids are just excited when they see the sheet pan of pizza, I think, more than they saw the stressed out manager, and the solo boxes of pizza.

Ingredients: [Print this recipe]

• 1 prepared pizza dough (see recipe), or store bought
• Garlic Cream Sauce (see recipe)
• 3 large onions, caramelized (see recipe)
• 5 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled or chopped
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
•  fine corn meal

Make sure you have prepared all of your elements prior to making the pizza. This includes the caramelized onions, the dough, the bacon, and the sauce. Begin by preheating your oven, preferably with a pizza stone inside, to 500 degrees. Cut the prepared pizza dough in half and let it rest on about 1/2 cup of the flour.

Punch down the dough, and begin rolling it out with your hands. If you have your own technique, that is great. However you roll it out, make sure you get about a 12 inch diameter or so. Nothing too fancy. I know that all of my pizzas are very rustic in shape, but I do tend to get it into a circular shape.

Lightly dust a pizza wheel (if you have one) with the corn meal. This does one thing and one thing really well. It allows for your pizza to come off of the stone very easily.

Once dusted, add the rolled out dough. Spoon on the garlic cream sauce, spreading it onto the dough. Shower the caramelized onions on top of the sauce, add the bacon, then top completely with the mozzarella cheese.

Slide the pizza into the preheated oven onto the pizza stone, and cook until the cheese is bubbly and the edges of the crust are nice and golden brown. Transfer the pizza to a cutting board or wire rack to let rest of a few minutes before digging in.

The end result is a perfectly textured crust, with the sweetness of the onions, a bit of smokiness and texture from bacon, and this creamy garlic sauce that will just get everyone saying things like ‘oooooommmm, ahhhhhhh, yummmmmm’, and everything in between.

You might want to just go ahead and repeat this process with the other half of the dough, or do what I do, look into your refrigerator and see what you have. Then, make something up, and make it your own. You might be glad you did. Enjoy!

I will admit that we are back in the full swing of things. The kids are all back in school and my wife and I are extremely busy trying to get out of the door on time, and with that said, the kids are not always getting a warm breakfast. I will also admit that I think breakfast is a very important meal of the day and can set the right mood in most everyone. Granted, by kids are not without food. They are eating bowls of cereal for the most part, keeping them occupied until lunch. So, it is always a good deal, and I know that my kids get excited when we are able to have breakfast for dinner.

This past week prompted a question I always get from my oldest son when he walks through the door ‘Hey Dad, what’s for dinner?’. Breakfast, I said, and as they all overheard that, you could sense the excitement. What they did not know, is that it was not your standard pancakes and bacon, but instead, a pizza idea I had in mind.

See, pizza is becoming a weekly standard in my house. Batching out the dough is no problem and when you come home from work, everything is pretty much ready. The cool thing about pizza night, is that the dough is your canvas, and you are the artist. Endless thoughts and ideas come into play, and is why I thought I would offer breakfast pizza to my kids.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

• Homemade pizza dough, or store bought if you prefer
• 3 breakfast sausages, uncooked, casing removed
• 1 yukon gold potato, thinly sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, smashed
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 large egg
• pinch of salt
• pinch of black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp light corn meal

Begin by heating a small sauce pan on medium to low heat. Add in the oil and the garlic clove, and let it cook on low for about 20 minutes.

During this time, add the sliced potatoes to a pot of boiling water. Turn off the heat and let the potatoes cook for about 3-5 minutes before removing them with a slotted spoon. Lightly pat dry.

Preheat your oven to 475-500 degrees, with a pizza stone in the oven as well.

Roll out your dough into the size you prefer, and the thickness you prefer. I like thin crust, but that’s me.

If you have a pizza wheel, use it. Lightly dust with the corn meal and add your rolled out pizza dough to the top.

Brush the garlic oil all over the dough. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Top with the thinly sliced potatoes, dollops of the sausage, and add the cheese. Open the oven, and gently slide the pizza onto the stone. The corn meal really helps in this effort.

Slide the stone out a bit, and crack the egg, right in the middle. Slide everything in the oven, close, and cook for about 12-17 minutes, until the cheese is nice and bubbly and the crust is a golden brown.

Once cooked, remove to your pizza pan, slice, and serve.

You should have seen one of my kids expressions. It was priceless. He was so excited, and he never had seen an egg on a pizza before! That bite was all his.  Every bite was delicious as well. Breakfast in a bite. It doesn’t get any better than that. Enjoy!

This cheese is unlike most cheeses. I get excited every time I slice a little bit off. Well, I get really excited. It is super creamy and has the subtle notes of gorgonzola cheese. Even my wife, who does not like most, if not all blue cheeses, loved this cheese. So as my first purchase of this wedge of cambozola, I returned again to purchase another wedge, but this time I was not going to make a crostini.

As I nibbled on this cheese in small bites, I looked around my kitchen, and as most busy weekday nights, I had to come up with something quick to make. So it be told, I made it a pizza night. I already had the dough ready, and saw some great cremini mushrooms on hand, so I decided I was going to make an excellent pizza, with everything I love in a steak, including mushrooms and blue cheese, but do it without meat.

Ingredients:

• Pizza dough, rolled out to about a 10-12″ circle
• 1 cup of cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup of sliced shallots
• 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese
• 4 tbsp cambozola cheese
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• flour for rolling your dough
• finely ground corn meal
• pizza wheel (optional)

With any homemade pizza, heat your oven to as high as it gets, typically 500 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, even better. Place the pizza stone in the oven during the preheat, and let it heat for about 25 minutes before placing your pizza on it.

Begin by taking a softball size dough out and place on a floured surface.  Roll the dough out into about a quarter inch thick, 10-12 inch round.

Arrange your pizza by lightly coating your pizza wheel with the cornmeal. This helps you slide the pizza off of the wheel and onto the pizza stone.

Place your dough onto the pizza wheel. Sprinkle the garlic and black pepper onto the dough. Top with the mozzarella cheese. Take about a tablespoon of the cambozola cheese and arrange near the middle, to top area of the pizza. Repeat with three remaining tablespoons. Top with all of the sliced mushrooms and shallots.

Gently shake the pizza onto the pizza stone and place into the oven for about 15 minutes, or until everything a light golden brown.

I like to let my pizza rest about 5 minutes on a pizza tray before serving.

A really rewarding pizza, this was a huge hit. If you are looking for a pizza that is earthy and has that subtle bite of blue cheese, this is the one. Enjoy.

There was one night where our neighbors got really excited when they talked about this Thai pizza they had from a local take and bake pizza joint in town. They boasted how awesome this pizza was. Thai pizza, really? The funny thing is, is that I could not stop thinking about this idea of Thai pizza. After all, I make dough all the time and knock out the ‘call out your own pizza’ night at least once a week, so this idea of how awesome a Thai pizza was, was something I had to make my own.

I feel I have a pretty good sense of Thai food, and probably have made, or tried more Thai food from the average person, so here is what I came up with. I will definitely make this again and will most likely deliver this pizza to the neighbors to see how it compares.

Ingredients:

• Your favorite pizza dough, rolled out to about a 1/4 inch, 12 inch diameter
• 1 cup of cooked chicken, shredded
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1/2 zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup of sweet Asian chili sauce, 1 tbsp for drizzle
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 2/3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup of chopped peanuts
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro
• Fresh basil (optional)
• Flour
• 1 tbsp fine corn meal

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone in the oven. If you do not have a pizza stone, get a large baking sheet in the oven, large enough to house your dough.

Begin by adding some flour to your rolling surface. Take your dough that has already risen, and lightly knead it. Roll out the dough, about a 1/4 inch thick, or however your like the thickness of your crust.

Lay the dough down on a pizza wheel with corn meal if you have one, otherwise a surface where you can slide the entire pizza onto the hot cooking surface. The corn meal helps assist with the pizza dough and toppings slide off easily.

Spread the Asian chili sauce on the surface of the dough. Not too thick, not too thin. Add the sliced shallots and zucchini. Top with the red chili flakes and shredded chicken. Top with the cheese.

Place in the oven on your cooking surface and cook for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on your crust and toppings so they do not burn. Every oven is different.

Once the pizza dough is golden around the edges and the cheese is nice and bubbly, remove from the oven onto a pizza tray.

Drizzle more of the Asian chili sauce over the top, top with the crushed peanuts and fresh cilantro. If you are feeling naughty, top it off with some fresh basil.

Slice and serve.

Every bite was pretty darn awesome. You get the great pizza crust with the sweet heat from the chili sauce, and the shallots, cilantro, and zucchini, along with the great crunch from the peanuts made this one a pizza that is hard to beat. So always remember when you are talking about food with other folks, and you see how excited they get about a particular item, make it your own! Enjoy.

We we early that day and seated immediately. Service was great and the suggestion was to try one of their garlic pizzas, and that we did. The garlic pizza known as the “La Bella”. It was delicious, and the sauce was great. I took my time inspecting the sauce (yes, I do that), smelling it, and tasting it like a fine wine. It was a cream sauce that trumped a traditional red sauce, and it was a sauce that I was out to recreate. After all, I think I have enough knowledge in making sauces, working with garlic, and so this past week, during our family “call your own pizza” night, I made my version of the garlic cream sauce that hit it on the head.

If you are looking for a different take on pizza sauce, and a sauce that goes great with onions, artichokes, mushrooms, or even sausage, this is the one. Super simple to make, great garlic flavor, and a sauce that your family will question with delight.

• 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced (or use a microplane if you have it)
• 1/2 cup of heavy cream
• 1/4 cup of 2% milk
• 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
• Generous pinch of salt
• Generous pinch of black pepper
• Very small pinch of red chili flakes
• Pizza dough
• Pizza toppings (recommend red onions, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, or any of your favorites)

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees, and place the pizza stone in the oven during the preheat. Try to preheat your oven for at least 20 minutes, or more if you can. You want your pizza stone really hot before placing your pizza onto it.

Begin by melting the butter, along with the olive oil on medium to low heat. Once melted, toss in the minced garlic, and give a good stir. Raise the heat up to medium, to medium-high.  Add in the cream and milk and give a good stir. Keep stirring until it comes to a boil. Toss in the salt, pepper, and chili flakes, along with the cheese, and continue stirring. The sauce will thicken pretty quick, so continue to stir. Once the sauce is thickened, remove from the burner, and set aside.

When you are ready to make your pizza, roll out your dough into about a 8 inch diameter. Sprinkle a bit of corn meal onto your pizza peel, then place the rolled out dough on top. Spoon on the sauce, covering up most of the pizza besides the edges, and top with your favorite ingredients. I like mine rather simple with mild Italian sausage and red onion, however artichokes go well with this one as well, and when taken out, top with some baby arugula, with an olive oil drizzle. Topping are endless, and that is what I love about pizza, but the sauce is something different, and something I think everyone will love.

A perfect balance of garlic and creaminess that might just steer you away from the traditional red sauce. However you top it, enjoy.

Sure, I do buy frozen pizzas for the kids, as one like pepperoni, while the other likes sausage, and the other likes cheese. I just find it a lot easier, and lot more enjoyable to show my kids that by making pizza dough, you can make your own creation. You do not have to be limited to the standards, and that we a bit of imagination, your pizza can be anything you want it to be.

So this past weekend, this is what it became. A mound of delicious pizza dough, which was made into a spinach and goat cheese pizza, while the remainder of the dough, was used for a deep-dish pizza. Both were truly delicious, and extremely easy to put together. If you are looking to break away from the traditional pizza toppings, try this one on for size.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of spinach, cleaned
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper
• 1/2 lemon; zest and juice
• Red onion, thinly sliced rings
• 1 cup of goat cheese
• Pizza dough
• Pinch of fine corn meal

Begin by rolling out your dough to your desired thickness. I like mine a bit thin. Refer to the pizza dough recipe if you have questions. Next, heat a medium skillet on medium heat and add in the olive oil. Add the spinach and cook until it wilts. Remove this from the heat and add in the zest and juice of half of the lemon. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat your pizza stone in the oven to 450 degrees. If you do not have a stone, use a large baking sheet. Once preheated, remove the stone/pan from the oven, and sprinkle the corn meal onto the stone. This helps the dough to be removed a lot easier. I have a pizza board that I sprinkle corn meal on instead, which helps me slide the dough and toppings onto the stone. Your call.

To make the pizza, sprinkle about half a cup of the goat cheese on the bottom of the dough. Sprinkle the spinach on top of the pizza dough, and then add the remaining cheese. Add your sliced onions to the top, and bake in your preheated oven for about 15-18 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Slice and serve.

I have been asking him what are some of his favorite hot lunches at school, and he has came back several times with pancakes and sausage, and french bread pizza. The light came on when he said french bread pizza. After all, when I first met up with my wife after living in Dallas, Texas, she seemed somewhat excited when the words ‘french bread pizza’ came about. Don’t get me wrong, I am in agreement with my wife and son, and truly think that the french bread pizza is something truly wonderful, simple, and incredibly tasty. I had to make them, to show my family how easy they were to make, and how much better they were going to be than the frozen Stouffer’s brand, or the ones from the cafeteria!

Lets get started:

• Homemade Italian Sauce (I used my immersion blender once cooked for a smooth sauce)
• 4 links of mild Italian sausage; casing removed, cooked, and cooled, nice and tiny
• Fresh Basil leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup of shredded Italian cheeses, per pizza
• French loaf (not a baquette)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Begin by cutting a french load in half, then lengthwise, allowing you two french bread pizzas. Remove a bit of the bread from the center. Place these on a baking sheet.  Ladle in a lot of sauce, making sure you cover the entire base of the loaf. Top with the cheese, then the cooked Italian sausage.  Bake in the oven for 13-16 minutes until the cheese is nice and bubbly and the sausage has a bit of crust. Sprinkle with some fresh, chopped basil, and serve.

For my last two batches of dough, I have involved my 3 year old and 7 year old. They love being able to measure, and participate in this wonderful experience, and I really think they love the smell of the yeast rising!

This recipe makes two thicker crust pizzas, stromboli’s, as well as my favorite, five thin crust pizzas, which how we roll to make an individual pizza for each of the kids.

Ingredients:

• 1 package active yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 TB olive oil, plus more to drizzle over the dough before rising
• 3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough
• pizza stone
• pizza ingredients
• Fine corn meal for dusting

To your mixing bowl, add your water, yeast, sugar, and honey. Let this become frothy for about 10 minutes. Take in the smell. It’s wonderful. Once your yeast has activated, add in the salt, olive oil, and flour. Mix this until it forms into a dough ball. You don’t want it sticky, and you don’t want it dry. Take the dough out, and knead the dough for a couple of minutes, before shaping it into a ball and transferring to another large bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the dough to lightly coat. Cover with a large enough towel, and set in a warm place to let it rise. The rising process will take a couple of hours, but I like to let mine rise throughout the day as we most often make the pizzas for dinner.

About 3 hours into the rising process, take the towel off and make a fist, and punch it right in the center. This is called punching down the dough. Cover and let this rise another hour or so. Punch it down again before rolling out the dough.

Your next process is to determine what type of pizza you are going to make. Thick or thin crust. We like the thin crust, however if you are interested in other pizzas, you can check out the rest of my site.

We are going to focus on the thin crust, which makes five pizzas with a cracker like crust.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees, placing your pizza stone in the oven during the preheat.

Take about a baseball size piece of the dough and add it to a floured work surface. I like to give the dough a bit of a massage at this time, poking the dough before rolling it out.

Roll out the dough into a 10 inch circle. You can pick it up at this time as well and get your pizza singing on and toss it up in the air if you like, but I only sing. Remove the stone from the oven and lightly dust with the corn meal. Place the dough on top of the stone, and place your ingredients on top of the dough.

We go with sauce less pizzas and let the cheese be the bottom layer. This adds to the crust and builds this great base for the pizza. The rest of your toppings is endless. You know how you like your pizza. Place back in the oven for about 6-8 minutes until dark golden brown, and dig in. You will be amazed about how good this pizza dough is. Say goodbye to the frozen section and welcome to the wonderful smells and tastes of homemade pizza dough! Enjoy.