Pizza

[Tom55555]

Just curious. Do you like pizza? If so, what brand and how do you cook them when RVing?

Do you prefer making your own or getting delivery if available?

 

[CharlesinGA]

Covid has temporarily changed the world, but, I still get pizza to go sometimes. I prefer the Marco's pizzas. To sit and eat with friends, we always seem to end up at https://johnnyspizza.com/

Charles

 

[Oldgator73]

Having had pizza in New York, Chicago and Naples, Italy I have to say that Naples  was the best. I like food that is simple. I don?t like a lot of toppings on my pizza. The pizza in Naples was a thin crust with just the right amount of red sauce, cheese and fresh basil. Cooked in a true wood fired pizza oven. Delicious.

 

[Isaac-1]

I tend to agree about liking good pizza which is hard to find, as to pizza in the RV while traveling, I find that the mid size Digiorno Artisan style, Thin and Crispy style, and Pizzeria style pizzas seem to cook fairly well in our Sharp convection microwave in convection mode.  The rising crust, and regular thin crust don't do so well though. They also stack well (without the boxes) in the RV freezer.  When traveling solo, if I know there is a nice scenic rest area, etc. ahead I will often pull over briefly toss one in the oven about 15 miles out, and let it cook while I drive.

 

[SeilerBird]

Tom's Homemade Pizza Recipe

Ingredients:

Pam
Flour
Bread dough
Butter
Spaghetti sauce
Cheese (x2)
Garlic
Pepperoni
Ground beef
Bell peppers
Onions
Pineapple
Olives
Mushrooms

also needed:

Oven
Pizza pan
Rolling pin
Pizza slicer
Brush
Paring knife

I am not a cook by any definition. I wave things and that is about it. Except for my pizza. During the mid 80s I bought a book about making a pizza at home. It appealed to me because the pizza parlor pizzas never tasted exactly the way I thought they should. I have modified my recipe many times until I got it exactly the way I want it to be. If you elect to try a make your own pizza then please modify the recipe to suit your own taste. All of the ingredients except for bread dough, spaghetti sauce and cheese is optional.

In the frozen foods section of your grocery store they sell frozen bread loafs in packages of three. Defrost one and bake it for hot fresh bread. However, one loaf will make a 16" large pizza thin crust or a 12" medium pizza thick crust. The huge secret to making homemade pizza taste great is in the crust. To get the crust perfect you will need to go to Walmart and get two pizza pans. You need to buy two (large and medium) because they are sold as a set. The ones you want have a bunch of holes in the bottom. This allows the crust to bake perfectly in a conventional oven. The holes are the secret.

Start 7 hours before you want to serve your pizza. Remove one loaf (they come three to a bag) and set it on your kitchen counter to defrost. Cover it with wax paper. It usually takes about 6 hours at normal room temperature for it to defrost, rise and be ready to use. Colder room temperatures require longer defrosting and warmer temps require less.

I use about a cup of each of most of the ingredients. About an hour before you wish to serve the pizza you can start preparing the rest of the ingredients. I put a paper towel on a plate and cover the paper towel with crumpled up ground beef and microwave it for about 3 minutes. Take 1/4 of a stick of butter and melt it in the microwave and add a pinch of garlic to it.

You can buy pepperoni either pre-sliced or not. If it is not pre-sliced then you should slice them. You need two types of cheese shredded. I buy a bag of pre-shredded cheese with two different types of cheese especially made for pizzas. Choose your two favorite types of cheese. One small can of pineapple chunks works just fine. Drain every bit of the sauce first. One small can of sliced olives works just fine also. Drain all the juice.

Slice the garlic, bell peppers, mushrooms and onions to bite size. You've seen plenty of pizzas so you should have no problem determining the size to slice them to.

Once you have all the toppings ready to be used and the dough has risen then preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Now it is time to build a pizza. Most people do not have a large enough cutting board for rolling out the pizza so I clean off a large portion of my kitchen counter and sprinkle a large handful of flour on it. If you are in a motorhome and you don't have a large enough counter top space then you can put a clean plastic table cloth on the picnic table in your campsite.

Roll the rolling pin in the flour you have sprinkled on the counter top once and then take the bread dough and put it in the middle of the flour. Rolling the dough is the hardest part of making this pizza. Patience is a virtue here. When you start rolling out the dough it will be very elastic and spring right back into place after you roll it. Just keep on rolling until you remove the elasticity from the dough. Takes about five minutes. The hardest part is getting the oval shaped loaf to become a circle. I always roll the narrowest part of the circle. In other words if the widest part of the loaf was pointed east to west then roll north to south. There are two different ways for the crust to look when you are finished rolling. You can make it roughly the size of the pan for a thick crust with no lip or make it three to four inches larger than the pan for a thinner crust with a lip.

Once it is the size you want then fold it in half like a taco shell. Set the pan in front of the pizza by the seam of the taco shell and grab both ends of the dough and drag it onto the pan. Then unfold your taco shell and adjust it so it is laying properly centered on the pan. If you want a lip then roll the dough to form the lip. If you don't want a lip then take a knife and trim the excess that hangs over the edge of the pan.

If you have a lip then take the brush and brush the butter/garlic all over the lip. There are lots of different pre-made spaghetti/tomato/pizza sauces on the market or you can make your own. Take the sauce and pour a lot of it onto the floor of the pizza. It will take a lot more sauce than you think. You want to end up with at least a 1/4 inch of sauce covering the pizza. Use your brush to even it out as best you can. Next comes the cheeses. Sprinkle a nice heavy layer over the sauce. Then take the garlic and sprinkle some all over. Next up is the pepperoni. I cover the pizza with them so you practically can't see the cheese.

Now all that is left is to add the rest of your toppings. The order does not matter. My order is ground beef, bell peppers, onions, olives, mushrooms and pineapple chunks last. If you really love cheese then sprinkle a bit more cheese over the top and toss a bit more garlic on top of that (have you guessed yet that I love garlic?). You are now ready to pop it in the oven. I am at sea-level and I am using an electric stove. I bake it at 400 degrees on the center rack for 22 minutes exactly. It comes out perfect. Your mileage may vary depending on the type of oven and your altitude. I use the lip of the crust to determine when it is ready. After 15 minutes I look at the lip once a minute until it reach golden brown.

Remove the pizza from the oven, turn off the oven and set the pizza on hot pad. Slice it into 8 slices an serve.

I have no idea what this pizza actually costs me to make. I would guess between $10 and $15 for a 16" pizza. But I am not making the pizza at home to save money. Enjoy!

 

[Prior member]

My wife makes the best pizza in the world with her own crust, her own sauce and her own creation. It is very seldom the same twice, but since she started making it about ten years ago, I won't get any in a pizza place.
They just can't compare

Jack L

 

[Larry N.]

My wife also makes her own crust for pizza, as well as her own recipe for all the rest, which includes lots of mozzarella cheese and either Ragu pizza sauce or a homemade pizza sauce (it's tastier but more work). She mixes the pizza dough in a bread maker, rather than kneading it herself these days, but it's the same otherwise.

Unfortunately, her recipe always makes two large pizzas, so we have to freeze one. We've never done this on the road, however.

 

[Great Horned Owl]

Tom, that pizza of yours sounds wonderful, but to become perfect, it would need some large chunks of a quality Italian sausage.

Joel

 

[Dragginourbedaround]

Covid has temporarily changed the world, but, I still get pizza to go sometimes. I prefer the Marco's pizzas. To sit and eat with friends, we always seem to end up at https://johnnyspizza.com/

Charles

X2 on Marcos Pizza. We're not very fussy (maybe a little) when it comes to pizza. We'll buy a box of four 12" pizzas from Sam's for about $10 and then heat one up on the spur of the moment when we're in the mood, but don't want to wait for delivery or go pickup.

 

[UTTransplant]

I tend to agree about liking good pizza which is hard to find, as to pizza in the RV while traveling, I find that the mid size Digiorno Artisan style, Thin and Crispy style, and Pizzeria style pizzas seem to cook fairly well in our Sharp convection microwave in convection mode.  The rising crust, and regular thin crust don't do so well though. They also stack well (without the boxes) in the RV freezer.  When traveling solo, if I know there is a nice scenic rest area, etc. ahead I will often pull over briefly toss one in the oven about 15 miles out, and let it cook while I drive.

I never thought of doing this for lunch, but what a good idea! Thanks.

 

[Robert K]

Having had pizza in New York, Chicago and Naples, Italy I have to say that Naples  was the best. I like food that is simple. I don?t like a lot of toppings on my pizza. The pizza in Naples was a thin crust with just the right amount of red sauce, cheese and fresh basil. Cooked in a true wood fired pizza oven. Delicious.

    Like this.
  I built this about 10 yrs ago and have not ordered pizza out since. We use an 8" pre made crust when we have parties and everyone can add their own toppings.
  Doesn't fit in the MH so we make then in the Ninja.

 

[SMR]

We like the Home Run Inn frozen pizzas ?.  I am so inspired by this post there is one in the oven. We do like to go out and get pizza, wood fired or a mom and pop place is our choice, been awhile since we have had one out. Last year we had a good pizza in Wintergarden, Fl when we purchased our ebikes,  we need to go back for a tuneup so we will get one to go.
I think the longest wait is between the time you place the order and when the pizza hits the plate.

 

[Oldgator73]

Having had pizza in New York, Chicago and Naples, Italy I have to say that Naples  was the best. I like food that is simple. I don?t like a lot of toppings on my pizza. The pizza in Naples was a thin crust with just the right amount of red sauce, cheese and fresh basil. Cooked in a true wood fired pizza oven. Delicious.



    Like this.
  I built this about 10 yrs ago and have not ordered pizza out since. We use an 8" pre made crust when we have parties and everyone can add their own toppings.
  Doesn't fit in the MH so we make then in the Ninja.

I delivered a load of bricks to son at our property in VA. He?s going to make us a pizza oven when it warms up.

 

[Roy M]

I occasionally get a craving for pizza but good frozen ones are hard to find, the toppings have to be fresh and the crust thin. The gas station/convenience store across the highway does a good job but only sells by the slice and it is pricey. Best one I ever had was by D-Plus in Surrey BC. South Asians but those people know how to make it!

 

[8Muddypaws]

My parents owned a pizza parlor when I was in high school.  I didn't eat pizza for 20 years after that. 

Boca De Beppo (now closed) made good pizza.

Blaze Pizza is now my favorite, followed by Pieology. 

When I make it at home I start with an uncooked flour tortilla with a little bit of olive oil under it, my homemade sauce, lots of mozzarella, pepperoni, thinly sliced tomato, and a good handful of sliced wax peppers.  Then topped with Parmesan and cracked red pepper when it come out of the oven.

Yeah, I know it's not pizza crust but it is low carb.  So rather than consuming 30+ grams of carb per slice I get 32 in the whole thing.  I've never been big on crust anyway.

 

[Tom]

I very rarely eat pizza (every few years) and, when I do, I tend to pig out on it. I then curse at myself for having eaten essentially junk food 

 

[Matt_C]

My wife loves to cook and went she does pizza, it is not nearly junk food any more than a good sandwich or pot pie. 

We have pizza on the road, we buy if not planned.  If planned, it may be either homemade and cooked in the coach, or it might have come with us in the coaches freezer and cooked in our oven.  If it is a store bought frozen, it gets pealed out of the box and can be fit in the freezer with little issue.

Matt

 

[Gizmo]

We tend to take the lazy approach which is to order for delivery, pickup and frozen veggie pizza (Newman's or California Kitchen)  from a grocery store.  Occasionally we find a good pizza joint for dine in pre COVID and take out now.

 

[camperAL]

Hi and good topic,

We like to go to BJ's Brewhouse and buy the pizza on Mondays as it is half price. We get BJ's Favorite (large) for the 50% discount on Mondays. What I have found out though, not all BJ's pizzas are the same. We were ordering in Fort Wayne but they are doing something wrong and they don't compare to the ones we ordered on the road or when we were in Tucson one time. The ideal thing to do is order carry out and drink a good beer while you wait.

We Also ordered Silly AL's Pizza (great name)  ;D when we were in Quartzsite and like their pizza except just a bit greasy. Still better than most. I'll third the Marco's pizza. More expensive but worth the price.

Frozen we like Red Barron Supreme or the D'journos (how ever you spell it) They fit into our coaches oven just fine.

Mag Pies in Tucson use to be very superior but now just good.

P.S.

Tom55555,

You and I are scary alike (but can't expect others to be near perfect like us)  ;D

 

[John From Detroit]

This talk of home made pizza remindes me of a news story many years ago.
The Mayor of NY was 'visiting' Assorted places (I think mostly restaurants) along with a news crew to show off the business. NOTE he was not connected with the businesses but what is good for business is good for the city (more taxes)

Well he visited a pizza place and the owner showed of how they "Spin" to dough into shape.. The problem is as he was spinning and tossing the dough caught he ring and went flying... landing.... ON THE MAYOR

Who promptly took out his white hanky and waved it a a flag of surrender.

Other than the owner who.. Well suddenly had the complection of a tomato (Bright red) Everybody got a good laugh.
And the NEXT pizza the mayor enjoyed.