Freezer Pizza Recipe and Video!

I made a video!

I also made pizza. This is a video to go along with the freezer-style pizza that I make on the regular. I call it freezer pizza because the quality of it is very like those cheap pizzas you get from the freezer at the supermarket. They’re definitely not gourmet, but they taste great. I started making this one several years ago when ordering pizza wasn’t worth it any more because it took over an hour, was often lukewarm when it arrived and frequently upset my stomach. I realized that the one I made took about 30-35 minutes, was always piping hot and I never got sick from it (unless I ate way too much). Bonus: the extras freeze up really well so this actually means I get a pass for dinner later in the week (or it’s an extra homemade meal for my husband when I’m out of town).

Anyhow, here’s the recipe. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1 tbs active dry yeast (1 use red star)
• 1 cup water at 105-115 degrees F
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbs olive oil plus oil for the pan

Sauce

• 1 package of Pomi (either strained tomatoes or tomato sauce. If you using strained, you’ll want to cook it down a bit more so it’s not as watery)
• desired spices such as garlic, oregano, basil, a few flakes of crushed red pepper. I use about a tbs of each and a pink of the red pepper.
• salt and pepper to taste (but typically around 1 tsp each)

Alternatively you can use some store bought spaghetti sauce like Barilla which is what I do when I’m feeling lazy (as in the video).

Toppings

• 1 package of mozzarella or other cheese you would like
• optional items: sausage, mushrooms, black olives, bell peppers, anchovies

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. If you’re using a pizza stone (yes, you can use it with the pan sheet), make sure that’s in there to pre-heat as well. Technically you should pre-heat for an hour, but I never have that kind of time.
2. Mix the water and yeast together. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes to bloom (it should get foamy).
• If you’re not using pre-made sauce, now is a good time to get the sauce going so it can simmer while you do the rest. For the sauce I just put it in a frying pan to allow more evaporation, add the spices, and get it mixed. I’ll usually taste it to make sure it’s how I like it. Then just stir ever so often.
• Similarly, if you are using a meat topping, now is a good time to cook it.
3. Add flour and salt to a large bowl. Give it a stir with your hand.
4. Add the 2 tbs olive oil to the flour/salt mixture. Also put some olive oil on your sheet pan while you’re at it. Maybe another 2 tbs or so.
5. Add the yeast mixture to the flour/salt/olive oil. Mix (I use a single finger) until most of the liquid is absorbed.
6. Begin kneading. I do this right in the bowl because I don’t want to make more mess, but you could pour it out and do it on a table. I recommend moving the bowl to a table so you can use your body weight to help with the kneading and save your arm strength.
7. Continue kneading. It’ll look really shaggy for a while and you’ll think, “oh noes! this is never going to come together!” But it will. Just trust. And keep kneading. It takes about 5 minutes of kneading. You don’t need to be aggressive. Just enjoy the feel of the dough beneath your hands. Gradually pull in the the extra bits of flour in as the dough becomes wetter, scraping the sides. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth-ish. It probably won’t get to a perfect smooth ball — or at least I never knead it that long.
8. Smooth out the oil in your sheet pan so it covers the whole thing and up the sides a bit.
9. Plop your dough on the sheet pan and begin flattening it out. You can use your hands to smooth it out. You can use your fingers to squish it out gently. I use a combination of all of these. You’ll want to get it to the sides and maybe up the edges just a bit. The olive oil will probably pool in the corners. Don’t worry about that. It won’t make a difference in the end.
10. Spread your pizza sauce on the dough. I use the back of a spoon to smooth it and get even coverage.
11. Add any toppings you want except cheese.
12. Bake for 7 minutes.
13. Pull out the pizza — I just open the door and slide the shelf out — and add the cheese to the desired amount.
14. Bake for 7 minutes.
15. Remove, cut and enjoy. If you want to eat with your hands, give it about 5 minutes to cool and stiffen a bit before digging in.