The Pizza Kit

Quick, finish this jingle....

 

"Open a Jar, of _______ ________ ______,  and open your own, pizzeria..."

Like many American homes, Friday night is often pizza night at our house. Growing up as a teenager, I remember making a few "Chef Boyardee" box pizza kits. They were fun, a bag of dried flour mix that became the crust, a can of sauce and maybe a small packet of grated Parmesan cheese. This was the making of home pizza when I was growing up.

No offense to the Chef, but with a lot less effort, we can make a lot better end product.


I suppose I make my own "pizza kit" per se. To do this for yourself so you can have a hot and ready pie for pennies, the first step is to grab your breadmaker.




BTW, I have never bought a breadmaker. If you have, that's great, but what I've usually found with appliances like this is that if you make it known to people that you are looking for one, someone usually has one in an attic or garage that they want to get rid of. It's amazing what you can get for free if you just let people know you are looking for something.

 

Following whatever bread recipe you may like (This one sounded good: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pepperoni-Pizza-Bread/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=white%20bread%2c%20breadmachine&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page&soid=sr_results_p1i2), put all the ingredients in your breadmachine and set it to dough. Walk away. I usually make 2-4 loaves over the weekend this way. If you are using a plain white dough, I sometimes add garlic, parmesan and/or basil to the mix. Once the dough is finished, grab a freezer storage bag, put in a little flour and seal it being careful to remove as much air as possible. Pop it into your freezer.

Now the toppings. I can a ridiculous amount of sauce during the canning season. Get one of these down or sans that, grab a small can of tomato paste. Put in a little olive oil, a little garlic, maybe some Italian seasoning and mix.

Chop up and veggies and/or your meat.












Now for the assembly. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. On your pizza pan or stone, put down a small layer of cornmeal or bread crumbs. Roll out your crust. Bake for 12 mins or so. Remove and start assembling your pizza.

Came out a little darker than I
wanted but still delicious!

You prebake it to provide a sturdy crust for the ingredients to sit upon so that they don't sink into the crust making it mushy.

Mmmm cheesy!

Lower the oven to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 15-20 mins. Cut as soon as it comes out of the oven and then enjoy. Hot and cheesy!




You just saved anywhere from $10-20 and made a pizza that everyone will enjoy.