After “Mexican Meal” Tuesdays, my family added Friday “Pizza Nights” to the meal schedule for a while. The great thing about living in NYC is that there are some of the best local pizza shops. While you can make your own pizza dough, another option is to get it from your local pizzeria. We have an amazing restaurant, Primadonna Ristorante E Pizzeria, across the street from us in Queens. They have some of the best pizza crust that I have ever tasted. (They actually employ one worker whose sole job is to make the pizza crust dough all day.) Since I have neither the time nor the desire to be making pizza dough all day, I just buy the dough (at less than $5) for the pizzas that my family makes at home. All you have to do is cut the dough in four sections. Pat each section into a circle and then stretch the dough out to your desired shape. (Rolling pins are not even necessary if you are using dough purchased from your local pizzeria! Below are the simple directions:
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Prepare the pizza on parchment paper dusted with a little flour or cornmeal. I simply place out the dough from my local pizzeria (cut into four portions) along with a variety of toppings: marina sauce; a variety of cheeses; pepperoni and whatever other meats that I have left over from the week; chopped garlic and any other leftover vegetables from the week. Each person puts whatever toppings that they like on their own pizzas.
- You can either cook the pizza on the parchment paper alone. (Don’t worry if the paper gets dark. As long as it is not on the lowest rack near your oven’s flames, then it won’t burn.) As another option, you can place the parchment on the back of a baking sheet. (I have tried it both ways and they work equally well).
- Cook the pizza for 10 – 15 minutes. (Twelve minutes is the sweet spot for my oven, but you will know that it’s ready when the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly. (If your oven doesn’t cook evenly, you can rotate the pizza at the mid-point.)
- Carefully take the pizzas out of the oven. Let the pizza cool down for a few minutes before serving.