Don’s Classic Pizza

While I have written up various pizzas in the past, I wanted to get down my classic pizza, and more importantly, my home-made sauce.

To make the sauce I saute a small amount (1/4 cup?) of minced sweet onion in a splash of olive oil inside a sauce pan. I toss in a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic right before the onion caramelizes and cook it through briefly, it’s important to not let the garlic burn. Then I toss in about half a cup of lean 90/10 ground chuck. Break up the meat and cook till crispy brown. Blot off any grease if there is any.

Pour in one 16 oz can of Tomato sauce, if you have a no-salt added can, even better. Toss in a bay leaf.

Stir in a handful of fresh oregano if available. If not, 2 tablespoons of dry is good. Add basil and parsley to taste, usually I do a handful of each.

I put in about a tablespoon of agave. I like a slightly sweet sauce, but not too sweet. To add a little zing, I put in some crushed red pepper.

Cook down for at least 30 minutes. The goal is to have as dry of a pizza as you can get it. You want to spoon it on, not pour it on.

I cheat on the crust. This is Publix raw pizza dough. When I make it to ‘the big city’ I buy several and put them in the freezer.

Preheat the oven to 500° with a pizza stone inside. You want the stone heating for at least 30 minutes.

Spread a handful of cornmeal on a pizza peel and put your crust on it, making sure there are no sticking points. Shift the crust around to make sure the bottom is coated well.

Brush the edges with an olive oil/garlic mixture. Garlic powder is OK, but if using fresh, give the mixture time to infuse.

Spoon on the thickened sauce. On a 16″ pizza, I use all the sauce.

Put on the Canadian bacon. This is generally non-greasy, but if you use any other meat, you may want to pre-cook it and blot off the grease. I like my raw veggies to cook in the oven, so I put them on top. This keeps the meat from drying out.

Veggies tonight include orange bell pepper, sweet onion, white mushrooms, sliced black olives and sliced green onions.

I put a little mozzarella on the meat, put down the veggies, and top with the rest of the mozzarella and about a cup of finely shaved Parmesan cheese.

Slide the pizza from 6the peel to the hot stone. Cook till the top is browning. Check the bottom of the crust to make sure it is brown and crisp. Pull the stone out when done, about 10 minutes.

Let it rest for about 5 minutes before serving.