You might know this already, but many of your favorite pizza places will sell you just the dough for cheaper than a slice. A large pizza dough from Shakespeare’s is a dollar. A small can of plain tomato sauce is 45 cents or less from the grocery store (and you can cover two pies with one can). Cheese is what, $2 or $3? The whole thing cooks in 10 minutes, and this way you don’t have to tip anyone.
From there you have so many possibilities. I jazz up the sauce with garlic, herbs, red pepper flakes and red wine. We put cornmeal on the bottom of the pan, and brush the crust with olive oil, rosemary and sea salt. We go nuts with toppings. I recently made bacon, artichoke and mushroom.
You can also try different sauces for the base. We’ve done barbecue sauce with chicken and green peppers; hummus with ground lamb and feta; and peanut sauce with chicken, carrots and sprouts.
The dough doesn’t always have to be turned into a pizza. I like to make it into hamburger buns, breadsticks or quick focaccia with olive oil, garlic, rosemary and sea salt. Then there was the time we made a cross between a calzone and Turkish pide, filling the dough with ground beef, vegetables and spices, then twisting it into the traditional pide shape.
What’s your favorite pizza topping you can’t get delivered?
