Sheet Pan Pizza
This is my go to pizza recipe. It is super easy, delicious and is really easy to make a few pies for a crowd. But, I don’t know really what to call it because I feel like it’s a mishmash of a few different styles of pizza. The crust definitely has ties to your classic Sicilian pizza, thick, airy, rich…think focaccia with pizza toppings. The sauce is a shout out to a classic Neapolitan…which I’m sure some people would argue it’s not, but whatever (haters gonna hate). It has a wonderful balance of acidity from the San Marzano tomatoes, sweetness from the sugar and then a nice pop of spice with the garlic and crushed red pepper. I give a little shout out to Detroit style pizza by loading the edge of the crust with extra cheese so you get those wonderful crispy, caramelized pieces of cheese. The toppings are my shout out to NY Style with the fresh shredded part skim mozzarella, spicy pepperoni and mushrooms…so you get that wonderful leopard pattern cheese with the crispy and fatty pieces of pepperoni with a nice meaty mushroom. Then to finish it all off, who doesn’t love a nice garlic butter crust! This is why I chose to keep it simple and just call it a sheet pan pizza. It’s the best and you need to try it!
*Note* If you don’t have a kitchen scale this recipe is empowering you to get one. It is one of my most used kitchen tools, particularly when baking…you need one and you should buy one. This concludes the PSA.
Sheet Pan Pizza
Prep time: 30 min | Cook time: 20 min | Total time: 4 hrs | Yield: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
For the Dough
-
- 500 grams bread flour
- 14 grams kosher salt
- 6 grams instant yeast
- 20 grams extra-virgin olive oil
- 325 grams room-temperature water
For the Sauce
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- 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 9 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 Tbsp italian seasoning
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 28 oz San Marzano tomatos, canned
- 1 tsp sugar
- kosher salt to taste
For Assembly
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- 1 Lbs part-skim mozzarella, shredded
- 12 oz pepperoni
- 4 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 4 oz Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 stick Unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tsp granulated garlic
- 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
Cooking Directions
To make the dough
- In the bowl of stand mixer combine flour, salt, yeast, and 20g olive oil. Fit mixer with dough hook attachment. Add water to mixer and mix on medium speed until dough comes together and no dry flour remains. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until dough is stretchy and smooth, about 6 minutes. The dough should stick to the bottom of bowl, but pull away from the sides.
- Pour 40g olive oil into a 13- by 18-inch rimmed baking sheet and spread over entire inner surface with your hands. Transfer dough to baking sheet and turn in oil until thoroughly coated. Spread gently with your hands. (It will not stretch to fill the pan; this is fine.) Cover baking sheet with another baking sheet upside down and allow to rise at room temperature until dough has slackened and started to spread out toward the edges of the pan, 2 to 3 hours. Using oiled hands, and working as gently as possible to maintain air bubbles, push and stretch dough into the corners of the pan by pressing out from the center, lifting each corner, and stretching it beyond the edge of the pan. It should pull back until pan is just filled with dough. Cover again and Set aside for 20 to 30 minutes while you make the sauce.
For the Sauce:
- Remove the tomatoes from the can and place in a medium bowl. Using your hands crush the tomatoes into fine chunks. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until softened and aromatic, about 1 minute. Add crushed tomatoes. Stir in sugar. Bring to a bare simmer and allow to cook for about 15 minutes to let flavors meld. Season to taste with salt. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
- One hour before baking, adjust an oven rack to the lowest position. Ideally, but not necessary, place Baking Steel on the bottom rack. Preheat the oven and steel for 1 hour to 550F.
To Assemble and Bake
- First add a generous layer of sauce to the dough. Then top with 1 lbs of shredded mozzarella, reserving a few tablespoons. Take the remaining cheese and go around the edge of the crust, this will give you that nice caramelized cheesy crust. Top with pepperoni and mushroom, or whatever toppings you prefer. Sprinkle the top with Italian seasoning and Pecorino Romano cheese. Place the pizza in a preheated oven and bake until the crust is brown and lifts easy from the pan, about 10-15 min. While the pizza is cooking mix together the melted butter, granulated garlic, and italian season. Remove from oven and brush the crust with garlic butter.
Items used when creating this recipe:
Great investment. I’ve had mine for 9-10 years…basically since the company started. Still firing pies like a boss!
Had this mixer for 7 years and you wouldn’t even tell it’s that old. Looks and works perfect!
Best of the best, Taylor makes the best kitchen scales hands down. This is a commercial grade scale, they also make home scales as well.
Instant Pot Carnitas
Hey everybody! So, I’ve been hearing about it…I’ve been reading about it…the Instant Pot. At first I brushed it off, I mean I have a pressure cooker, I have a slow cooker, do I really need this device? I’m also the type of person that tends to stay away from another kitchen “gadget.” But, Instant Pot has been so popular for so long with so many great things said about it that I couldn’t ignore it anymore. So, I decided to make a space in my kitchen for it and for my birthday my beautiful wife and in-laws ended up getting me on…so it’s been about a month since I got it and I just now finally busted it out! I was perusing the internet, looking at what other people were doing and settled on trying some carnitas. All I can say is WOW! It really is a great kitchen appliance. It was so nice to be able to saute, pressure cook and then keep the food warm all in one pot! I also really like how it takes a lot of the guessing work out of pressure cooking. I have a stove top pressure cooker as well and you kind of have to baby sit them while they do their thing. I was also really impressed how easy it was to clean. So, even though I only have one cook under my belt, so far I give this thing two big thumbs up. Can’t wait to do more with it! So, as far as the recipe goes, I made some very traditional pork carnitas, that I served on yellow corn tortillas, with homemade pico de gallo and a avocado crema. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Instant Pot Carnitas w/ Pico de Gallo and Avocado Crema
Prep time: 30m | Cook time: 1hr | Total time: 1hr30min | Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
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- 4 lbs Boneless pork butt, cut into 2" chunks
- salt and pepper
- 1 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 cup beer
- 1 head garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
- 16 - 6" yellow corn tortillas
- Cheddar cheese, shredded
- Pico de Gallo, recipe follows
- Avocado Crema, recipe follows
Cooking Directions
- Click the “Saute” setting on the Instant Pot and let heat. While Instant Pot is heating, season pork chunks with salt and pepper. Add oil and , working in batches, sear pork — turning every 45-60 seconds or so — until the pork is browned on all sides. Transfer pork to a separate clean plate, and repeat with the rest of the pork, searing until browned on all sides. Press “Cancel” to turn off the heat.
- While the pork is browning, in a separate bowl whisk together the next 9 ingredients.
- Return the browned pork and the sauce to the Instant Pot. Lock the lid in place and set the Instant Pot to pressure cooking on High for 30 min. Cook. Then let the pressure release naturally, about 15 minutes. Carefully turn the vent to “Venting”, just to release any extra pressure that might still be in there. Then remove the lid.
- Turn your oven broiler on high. Placing a towards the top in the oven.
- Remove work with a slotted spoon and place on a rimmed backing sheet. Shred the pork with two forks then ladle some of the sauce over the pork. Put in the oven and broiler for 4-5 minutes until the works starts to brown and get crispy. Remove from oven, top with more of the sauce and toss with some tongs. Return to oven for another 4-5 min until brown and crisp. Remove from oven
- Heat and crisp the corn tortillas on a cast iron pan or baking steel. Use two corn tortillas per taco. Top with carnitas, cheese, pico de gallo, and avocado crema
Pico de Gallo
Prep time: 10m | Total time: 10min | Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
-
- 3 red onion, medium dice
- 12 Roma tomatoes, medium dice
- 2 Cups cilantro, chopped
- 3 jalapenos, fine dice
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tsp cumin
- salt, to taste
Cooking Directions
- Put all the ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
Avocado Crema
Prep time: 10m | Total time: 10min | Yield: 1 batch
Ingredients
-
- 2 avocados
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 lime, juice
- 1/4 tsp ancho chili powder
Cooking Directions
- Put all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth. Add more lime juice to adjust consistency; should be thick but still smooth enough to squeeze out of a bottle. Transfer to a squeeze bottle and use as needed.
Other Recipes You May Enjoy…
Guacamole
Guacamole is one of my favorite dips, right behind Galliker's french onion chip dip. It's super easy to make and just has such a great, fresh flavor...and people tend to love it so it usually goes over well. This recipe is very traditional and honestly, I don't believe guacamole should ever be over complicated....don't mess with it! This entry is a two-parter. I made a big batch of guacamole to make homemade burrito bowls one night. So my next recipe will be the burrito bowls. I figured this guacamole recipe deserved it's own post...it's that dang good!
When beginning to write this entry, my mind started thinking, where did guacamole come from? Thank god for Google, I got a pretty quick answer that I thought was intriguing.
“When you’re eating guacamole, you’re eating history that dates back to the 1500s. The Aztec empire created this spread with the same exact ingredients that local restuarants use today. The Aztecs called this saucy spread “ahuaca-mulli” which translates to avocado-mixture or avocado-sauce. Pretty creative, eh? Of course, the secret didn’t stay with the Aztecs for long.
The Spaniards encountered the Aztec people and their ahuaca-mulli while exploring the New World and knew it would be a hit back home. Unfortunately, avocados are not native to Europe so there was a problem when trying to recreate the dish for friends and family when they returned to Spain. Over the course of time, guacamole has stayed in North and South America, while back in Europe the Spanish tried to duplicate the tasty treat with substitutions for the avocado. Of course nothing could live up to the guacamole they had in their travels.
The word guacamole is derived from Nahuatl, a language from Central Mexico. Years ago “waka’mole” and “huaka’mole” were were a few different ways to pronounce gucamole. Our society and fast-paced culture has even gone so far as to shorten this word with the abbreviation “guac” written on menus and featured on signs at local restaurants.
Guacamole has always been a table pleaser, as we can see. The Aztecs believed it to be a natural aphrodisiac and with more natural monosaturated fat and protein than other fruits available, it was vital to their diet. Avocados have almost 20 vitamins and minerals and have been found to help manage heart problems and cholesterol for some people.”
Guacamole
Prep time: 15m | Cook time: 0min | Total time: 15min | Yield: 3 cups
Ingredients
-
- 2 rip Hass avocados
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 jalapeno, including seeds, finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Cooking Directions
- Cut the avocado in half and then remove the pit. Scoop the avocado flesh out and place in a medium bowl. Toss and coat with lime juice.
- Add the salt and using a fork or potato masher, mash until a smooth consistency is achieved
- Fold in the remaining ingredients and mix well. Taste the guacamole and adjust seasoning if necessary.