Homemade Cheese Pizza Recipes

HOMEMADE CHEESE PIZZA

Steps:

• Follow the Best Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)
• Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here's the pizza oven we use).
• Make the Easy Pizza Sauce.
• Slice or tear the fresh mozzarella into small pieces.
• When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don't have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see How to Stretch Pizza Dough for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel.
• Spread the pizza sauce over the dough using the back of a spoon to create a thin layer. Add the pieces of fresh mozzarella cheese evenly across the dough, then top with the shredded mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle evenly with the garlic powder, dried oregano, and a few pinches of kosher salt.
• Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in a pizza oven). Slice into pieces and serve immediately.

CHEESE PIZZA

Steps:

• Place a pizza stone in the center rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F for 1 to 2 hours before you're ready to bake the pizza to get the stone nice and hot.
• Generously sprinkle a flat work surface with flour. Use a rolling pin to stretch the dough into an 11-inch circle. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured pizza peel or unrimmed baking sheet so it can slide right onto the pizza stone in the oven. (I use the bottom of a baking sheet.)
• Top with the mozzarella, sprinkle with the oregano, then gently spread the marinara sauce on top, leaving about a 1/2-inch border around the edges for the crust (my favorite part!).
• Turn off the oven and turn on the broiler. Use the peel or baking sheet to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone. The heat from the stone will cook the bottom of the pizza and the boiler will char and cook the top, mimicking a Neapolitan pizza oven. Bake until the cheese is melted and the crust is evenly crisped, 5 to 6 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan if desired. Slice the hot pizza and serve immediately.

CHEESE PIZZA

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine biscuit mix and water; mix well. Press into a greased 12-in. pizza pan. Spread with pizza sauce; sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 450° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

DEEP DISH CHEESE PIZZA

Steps:

• Combine the yeast, water and honey in a small bowl. Set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Combine the cornmeal, salt and 2 cups flour in a bowl. Add the water mixture and 1/4 cup olive oil. Using your hands, stir together to form a rough dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough, adding more flour as needed, until it forms a slightly tacky but smooth dough that doesn't stick to your hands or the counter, 5 to 10 minutes. Place the dough in an olive oil-coated bowl, turning to coat the dough in the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Position an oven rack in the top third of the oven and another in the bottom third. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Grease a 9-inch springform pan with the remaining tablespoon olive oil. Wrap the bottom of the pan in aluminum foil and set aside.
• Gently place the dough in the pan and spread it out to the edges using your fingers. Work the dough about 2 inches up the side of the pan. Shingle the provolone on the bottom of the crust and part of the way up the sides. Spoon the marinara over the cheese and smooth with the back of a spoon. Bake for 30 minutes on the lower rack. Rotate the pizza and move it to the top rack and continue to bake until the crust is deep golden brown and the sauce is slightly darker, another 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and seasonings, if using, and allow the pizza to rest for 10 minutes before unmolding, slicing and serving.

EASY CHEESE PIZZA

Steps:

• Set one oven rack to lowest position and another oven rack to the middle position.
• Place a rimless baking sheet onto the bottom rack, then set oven to 500 degrees.
• Meanwhile roll out the pizza dough into a 12-inch circle then brush with olive oil.
• Carefully remove baking sheet from oven (leaving oven temperature to 500 degrees) then slide the dough onto the preheated baking sheet using a spatula as a guide).
• Bake crust on BOTTOM RACK for 8 minutes.
• After the 8 minutes remove from oven and spread the pizza sauce into an even layer over the crust leaving about a 1/4-inch border.
• Top with mozzarella cheese and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top.
• Bake MIDDLE OVEN RACK for an additional 10-12 minutes or until crust is golden brown and the cheese melts.
• Using a pizza cutter slice into 12 wedges.

TRUE CHEESEBURGER PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir beef, salt, and pepper in the hot skillet until meat is browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes; drain and discard grease.
• Mix ketchup and mustard in a bowl; spread mixture over pizza crust. Spread mozzarella cheese and Cheddar cheese over ketchup mixture and top with beef and onions. Transfer pizza to a large baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven until cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Top with pickles and allow pizza to cool for 5 minutes. Top with shredded lettuce and tomatoes before slicing and serving.

PIZZA FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the oil, salt, sugar and 2 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rest in a warm place for 10 minutes. , Meanwhile, combine sauce ingredients; set aside. Divide dough in half. On a floured surface, roll each portion into a 13-in. circle. Transfer to greased 12-in. pizza pans; build up edges slightly. Prick dough thoroughly with a fork. , Bake until lightly browned, 12-15 minutes. Spread sauce over hot crusts to within 2-in. of edges; top with sausage, mushrooms, green pepper and cheese. Bake 20 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

HOMEMADE PEPPERONI PIZZA

Steps:

• For sauce: Combine all sauce ingredients with 1/2 cup water in a medium bowl; set aside for flavors to develop while making crust. Freeze remaining paste .
• For crusts: Combine 2 cups of flour with the dry yeast, sugar and salt. Add the water and oil and mix until well blended (about 1 minute). Gradually add enough remaining flour slowly, until a soft, sticky dough ball is formed.
• Knead for about 4 minutes, on a floured surface, until dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour, if needed. (If using RapidRise® Yeast, let dough rest, covered, for 10 minutes.)
• Divide dough in half. Pat each half (with floured hands) into a 12-inch greased pizza pan OR roll dough to fit pans.
• For pizzas: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Top crusts with sauce, pepperoni and cheese.
• Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until crusts are browned and cheese is bubbly. For best results, rotate pizza pans between top and bottom oven racks halfway through baking.