How to Make Your Own Tasty Homemade Crispy Thin Crust Pepperoni and Sausage Pizza

Homemade pizza is a popular dish in our household. Whenever we make homemade pizza friends and neighbors have a habit of dropping by about supper time and anything left over tastes excellent warmed up the next day so we usually make six or more pizzas at a time.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mixing bowl
• Flour
• Yeast
• Salt
• Water
• Cheese
• Pepperoni
• Sausage
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cups
• Pizza pans
• Mixer

1. 
    
   Bowl

   Get out a large mixing bowl.

2. Put 2 ¼ teaspoons of active dry yeast into the bowl. This is equivalent to one of those little packets of yeast that you can buy.

3. Add one teaspoon sugar to the yeast.

4. Pour ¼ cup warm water into the bowl. The water should be between 105 and 115 degrees. If the water is too hot it will kill. If the water is too cold the yeast will not be activated.

5. 
    
   Stir

   Stir with a spoon.

6. 
    
   Allow to sit

   Allow to sit for 10 minutes.

7. Pour two cups of warm water into the bowl. Again the water should be no hotter than 115 degrees.

8. Add two teaspoons of sugar.

9. Add two teaspoons of salt.

10. Stir with a spoon until well mixed.

11. 
     
    Add flour

    Add three cups of flour.

12. 
     
    Mix

    Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

13. Add about three more cups of flour. Mix with a spoon until you have formed a soft dough.

14. Flour a smooth surface such as a counter top or a table.

15. 
     
    Dough

    Dump the soft dough onto the floured surface.

16. 
     
    Kneed

    Kneed with your hands until smooth and elastic. This should take about six to eight minutes. Add flour to the surface as needed to keep the dough from sticking.

17. 
     
    Put in bowl

    Place in a bowl. I always just use the same mixing bowl that I use to make the dough and I get along fine with it.

18. 
     
    Cover

    Cover the bowl.

19. Sit in a warm location until the dough has doubled. This should take somewhere around an hour but the time can vary depending on how warm the dough is since the speed the yeast works is dependent upon the temperature.

20. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

21. 
     
    Pizza pan

    Take out your pizza pans. This recipe will make several large pizzas. I sometimes have some dough left over and I use any left over dough to bake rolls with to eat the next day. I figure the oven is already hot, I have extra dough and it makes great tasting rolls. It's a win, win situation!

22. 
     
    Spray

    Spray the pans with non-stick cooking spray.

23. Take out a portion of dough.

24. Put the dough on one of the pizza pans.

25. 
     

    Work the dough, Gently spreading it into a thin layer that covers the entire cooking surface of the pan. The thinner you get the crust in this step, the thinner and crisper the finished product will be.

26. 
     
    Dough is spread

    Repeat the previous three steps until you have covered all your pizza pans with dough.

27. It is a good idea to take a toothpick or other sharp object and poke pin holes in the thin dough. This makes bubbles in the crust less likely. I often get in a hurry and forget this step!

28. 
     
    Skillet

    Place a frying pan on a burner.

29. 
     
    Spray

    Spray with non-stick cooking spray.

30. 
     
    Uncooked sausage

    Place the uncooked sausage into the pan.

31. 
     
    Chop

    Chop the sausage into pieces with a spatula.

32. Turn as needed.

33. 
     
    Place on paper towels

    When sausage is browned, place on a layer of paper towels to drain the excess grease. The idea is to cook this while your crusts are baking. Go on to the following five steps while the sausage is browning. Remember to keep and eye on the sausage as you brown the crusts to avoid burning.

34. 
     
    Put in oven

    Place as many pans as will fit into the oven.

35. Bake until the crust is a golden brown. The browner the crust the crispier it will become.

36. 
     
    Remove

    Remove from the oven.

37. Place the pan on a level surface. It's a good idea to put hot pads under the hot pan to avoid scorching your counter.

38. Repeat the previous four steps until you have browned all your pizza crusts.

39. 
     
    Spread

    Spread the pizza sauce on the crust. I just use any kind of spaghetti sauce that I happen to have on hand for this. I prefer the four cheese kind but use what you like.

40. 
     
    Sprinkle

    Sprinkle the sauce with garlic powder.

41. 
     
    Pepperoni

    Place the pepperoni on the sauce. Use a generous amount of pepperoni, the more the better.

42. 
     
    Spread the sausage

    Place the sausage on your pizza. Position it so it is in a uniform layer. On the pictured pizza I am only covering about half of the pizza with sausage since one family member objects to sausage on her pizza and there is nothing wrong with that, it is easy to accommodate.

43. 
     
    Spread the cheese

    Spread shredded cheese over the top of the pizza. I like to use more than one kind. This pizza is getting mozzarella and mild cheddar cheese.

44. 
     
    Ready to bake

    Thinly slice a block of mozzarella cheese. You can omit this step if you wish but I like the cheesy end result.

45. 
     
    Put into oven

    Place as many pizza pans in the oven as will fit.

46. 
     
    Bubbly cheese

    Bake until cheese is bubbly. Use your own discretion on how well done you like pizza.

47. 
     
    Pull from oven

    Pull from oven.

48. 
     
    Level surface

    Place hot pizzas on hot pads upon a level surface.

49. Repeat the previous four steps until you have baked all your pizzas.

50. Allow the pizzas to cool somewhat.

51. 
     
    Cut

    Cut into slices.

52. 
     
    Serve

    Put slices on serving plates.

53. Serve and enjoy!

[godfather25]

on 11/4/2009 Wow, this looks so good!

[paigeannecarter]

on 11/1/2009 Thin crust pizza from scratch?!? Unbelievable. This I have to try. Thanks for sharing.