Using Ready-Made Crust for Quick and Easy Pizza

Making Pizza at Home

I like making quick and easy pizza at home, and if you’ve been following The Creative Cottage blog, you’ll notice that Food & Drink is one of my favorite topics. Unless you go totally crazy with gourmet ingredients, it’s usually less expensive to make homemade pizza rather than ordering pizza from a restaurant.

BONUS POINTS: making your own gourmet pizza gives you complete control over the ingredients for a completely customizable culinary experience. You can either make a couple of large pizzas to feed a crowd, or go crazy hosting a pizza party and let all your friends and family have fun making their own individual mini pizzas.

Homemade Pizza Using Ready-Made Crust

If you are in a house with meat-eaters, veggie lovers, or even vegans like my daughter, then it can be difficult to find a one-size pizza to fit all taste levels. I like using interesting topping selections, that aren’t always available at my local pizzerias so it often works out better to let everyone at your house make their own, personal size pizza.

Also, if you get a sudden craving for pizza at 3 AM, good luck getting Uber Eats or Delivery Dudes to deliver in the middle of the night. I happen to live way out in the boondocks, in a very rural and remote area and there is only 1 single REAL pizza parlor (non-chain store) that delivers pizza in my area. They make pretty decent pies, but sometimes I’m craving something different.

And, I’ve recently had to make the switch to a gluten-free and mostly dairy-free diet – all the more reason to keep a variety of ready made pizza crusts and homemade pizza ingredients in stock at all times. I was happy to discover Bob’s Red Mill makes a 2-pack gluten-free pizza crust mix.

Pizza Gadget Recommendations From The Creative Cottage

Pizza Pan Equals Crispy Crust

Just say no to soggy bottoms! Using a perforated metal pizza pan or a preheated pizza stone goes a long way in helping to make make a crispier crust. I preheat my oven and place my metal perforated pizza pan or pizza stone in the oven to heat up while I’m making my delicious pizza creations. A preheated pan will give you the ultimate, crispy, non-soggy pizza crust.

You can find a variety of specialty cookware including pizza pans, pizza stones, pizza cutters, and pizza peels online. Or make a trip to your favorite kitchen supply store or take a look at the offerings at the kitchen department of larger big box stores such as Walmart, Target, Williams Sonoma, or Bed Bath and Beyond.

Pizza Crust Options

When making homemade pizza, you have a variety of pizza crust options to choose from.

1. Pre-made pizza crusts such as Boboli. I like Boboli individual pizza crusts, which are available in a package of two mini 8-inch crusts, at most grocery stores. Boboli crusts are also available in a large 12-inch size in original, whole wheat and thin crust.
2. Any thin bread product – such as flatbread, naan, or pita bread
3. Visit your local pizza restaurant and buy pre-made pizza dough from them. I cover a large cutting board with cornmeal and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough before placing it on a pizza pan.
4. Pillsbury pizza dough. Available in the refrigerated section of most grocery stores – in the area where you’d find biscuit and cookie dough. This pizza dough unrolls into a rectangular shape. Spread the dough out onto a medium to large rectangular cookie/baking sheet.
5. Puff pastry – a nice change from more traditional types of pizza crust
6. I can sometimes find fresh, pre-made pizza dough at my local grocery store. Check the bakery department of your local grocery store to see if they have pizza dough available.
7. I’ve also recently started using gluten-free pizza crusts – my local stores usually have 2-packs of cauliflower based, gluten-free crusts in-stock.

Favorite Homemade Pizza Toppings

Once you’ve got your quick and easy pizza crust ready to go, it’s time to add your sauce and toppings. Depending on what type of pizza you’re craving, you can add traditional tomato sauce, marinara sauce, garlic butter sauce, or even Alfredo sauce if you’re making a white pizza.

Then it’s finally time to add your choice of cheese and load up on all your favorite toppings. Some of my favorite toppings include roasted red peppers, turkey pepperoni, mushrooms, capers, olive tapenade, sun-dried tomatoes, bacon, sausage, red onions, sliced green onions, and black olives.

My chosen pizza toppings vary according to what kind of pizza I’m craving. A recent homemade pizza masterpiece used pesto (basil, garlic, pinenuts, and olive oil) for the sauce, mozzarella and dollops of ricotta for the cheese, topped with a generous portion of crispy eggplant, artichokes, grilled chicken, and finished off with a sprinkling of oregano.

Delicious Gourmet Pizza Recipes

If you are getting tired of regular pepperoni pizza or plain cheese pizza, here are a few ideas for making your own gourmet pizzas at home.

• Hawaiian pizza ingredients – pineapple, ham, mozarella cheese, tomato sauce
• Meat lovers pizza ingredients – Italian sausage, pepperoni, ham, bacon, ground beef, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese
• Vegan pizza ingredients – spinach, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, black olives, mushrooms, non-dairy mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce
• BBQ chicken pizza ingredients – BBQ sauce, grilled chicken, red onions, bacon, mozzarella cheese, no tomato sauce
• Margherita pizza ingredients – sliced tomatoes, sliced fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce, drizzel with olive oil, and top with fresh basil leaves after baking
• White pizza ingredients – olive oil, fresh minced garlic, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, rosemary, no tomato sauce
• Alredo pizza ingredients – Alfredo cheese sauce, mozzarella cheese, grilled chicken, broccoli, no tomato sauce
• Mediterranean pizza ingredients – pesto sauce, roasted peppers, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, no tomato sauce
• Philly cheese steak pizza ingredients – Alfredo sauce, thinly sliced steak, mozzarella cheese, green bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, and topped with more mozzarella cheese or drizzled with that American processed cheese classic Cheez Wiz!
• Strawberry basil balsamic pizza ingredients – fresh strawberries, goat cheese, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, balsamic vinegar honey reduction sauce, no tomato sauce
• Salmon and cream cheese pizza ingredients – puff pastry works really well for this unique pizza recipe. You add all ingredients once you’ve finished baking the pizza crust: smoked salmon, ricotta cheese, cream cheese, fresh dill, fresh chives, capers, no tomato sauce

Finish Pizza with Aromatic Herbs

Once I’ve added my mozzarella and other cheeses, I like to finish my pizza with a few Italian herbs such as thyme and oregano. Although you can find dried Italian seasoning blends at most grocery stores, I usually have a selection of fresh herbs growing in my garden. This makes it easy for me to run out to the garden and snip a few fresh herbs like parsley, basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme to add to all my culinary creations. I also usually add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese to finish off my pizza before popping it in the oven to bake to a crispy golden brown while melting all the gooey cheese.

Baking Your Pizza Pie

The final step towards enjoying your homemade pizza using premade pizza crust is to bake the pizza according to the pizza crust directions. If you are using raw pizza dough from a local restaurant, ask them for their cooking recommendations. Most of the pre-made pizza crusts I use are partially baked and recommend pre-heating the oven to 425 or 450 degrees Fahrenheit and baking for about 8 to 12 minutes. Once I take my pizza out of the oven I often drizzle with a bit of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) before using a pizza wheel to make quick work of cutting through the pizza.

There you go, a simple way to make quick and easy pizza at home using a pre-made pizza crust. Happy eating!

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