Meat Lovers, and Hawaiian Pizza

[caption id="attachment_1327" align="alignnone" width="640"] My Meat Lovers Pizza.[/caption]

 

Who doesn't love a homemade pizza?!? If you're saying you don't, well then...we can't possibly be friends!

Honestly, I was never a fan on pizza until I started making them at home. I used to make pizza years ago and it was oh, so good! I lost the recipe though so I had to start from the bottom and well, that was kind of frustrating.

After a couple of failed attempts, I think I can finally say that I do homemade pizza justice!

Don't believe me??

Give it a go and you be the judge! :)

Ingredients for the Meat Lovers Pizza:

one prepared pizza dough
1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of red sauce
6-8 ounces of freshly grated mozzarella
1/2 a pound of sweet Italian sausage
1 small onion, sliced
pepperoni ( I prefer turkey pepperoni)
uncured turkey bacon
olive oil
butter
salt
pepper
garlic powder
onion powder

Additional items needed:

pizza stone or aluminum baking sheet (do not use dark/non stick ones)
inverted round pizza pan or bakers peel
corn meal
parchment paper
pizza slicer or kitchen scissors

Instructions:

1. Place your pizza stone on the lowest rack in your oven. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F for 30-45 minutes. While your pizza stone is heating, work on your pizza toppings.
2. In a hot skillet, add some olive oil and butter. Add in your sliced onions and season with salt and pepper. Turn heat down to medium low and cook until caramelized, about 30 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent burning. Drain on paper towels.
3. In the same skillet, add a little bit of olive oil and then add in your Italian sausage. If it's in the casing still, be sure to remove the casing before cooking. Season with some garlic and onion powder and cook until browned. Drain on paper towels.
4. Get a round pizza pan and flip it upside down. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of it and then sprinkle on a big pinch of cornmeal. Set aside.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out your pizza dough into a 12-14 inch circle. If you are using a homemade dough, make sure you wait 8-10 minutes before rolling it out. Place your dough onto the parchment paper with cornmeal.
6. Using the pizza slicer, trim the outer edges to make a cleaner circle (or leave as is, as long as it can fit on the baker's peel/pizza stone, you're okay). Keep the excess dough to make bread sticks!
7. Top the pizza with some red sauce,  leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges. Sprinkle on your mozzarella. Continue by adding your pepperoni, Italian sausage, uncured turkey bacon, and caramelized onions. You must work quickly here--if too much time passes, your dough may begin to stick to the parchment paper and it may get difficult to remove it, later.
8. Gently slide your pizza (with the parchment paper) onto the baker's stone, close the oven door, and TURN THE TEMPERATURE DOWN TO 475 DEGREES F. After about 2-3 minutes, open the oven door and gently REMOVE THE PARCHMENT PAPER FROM UNDERNEATH THE PIZZA (or else it will burn). Close the oven door, and continue to cook for 7-8 minutes, or until the crust is slightly golden brown and your cheese has melted.

My Hawaiian Pizza.

 

For the Hawaiian pizza:

one prepared pizza dough
1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of red sauce
6-8 ounces of freshly grated mozzarella
3-4 button mushrooms, sliced
3-4 slices of uncured turkey bacon (or Canadian bacon), cut into 1/2 inch pieces
some thinly sliced pineapple

Instructions:

Follow the same instructions as stated above, except use the ingredients for the Hawaiian pizza instead! Easy, right?? :)

NOTES:  Different pans will yield different results. Using a pizza stone will give you the best result if you like  your pizza crust thin and crunchy. You may use a regular aluminum baking sheet but your crust will be slightly puffier. You may try poking your raw pizza dough crust all over with a fork and then par bake the crust for a few minutes before you add on your cheese and toppings if you want to achieve a thin crust without a pizza stone.