We have pizza every weekend. Homemade pizza 90% of the time as it's expensive to outfit a family of five with delivery pizza. Plus, there was a time when I needed to be able to make the pizza with epically odd ingredients, so it was just simpler to make homemade for everyone.
I make the pizza sauce in large batches as needed and freeze it in 1 and 3-cup measures. Typically, I buy large cans of plain crushed tomatoes and pour them into a crockpot. Then I add a large amount of dried Italian Seasonings (basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary), a healthy dose of extra virgin olive oil, salt, garlic, and red onion. Then I let it cook on high for about 4 hours. The smaller amounts are used for pizza and the larger portions are for pasta. This not only allows me to control what ingredients are used but is much more cost-effective. Jarred pasta sauce is far more expensive than this version. This year we planted several Roma tomato plants and had a decent harvest. I've been putting up batches of homemade tomato sauce since July!
I make the pizza dough on Friday afternoons. It's a simple recipe of bread flour, whole wheat flour, salt, garlic powder, extra virgin olive oil, Italian Seasonings, and yeast. I dump all of this along with water into my stand mixer and let it do its job. Once it's to the consistency I'm after, I form it into a dough ball and place it into an oiled bowl and cover it to allow the dough to prove. This usually takes about two hours. Then I can cut the dough ball in half and use each half to make a pizza.
I roll out the dough to fit my rectangular baking sheets. Form the edges and pierce the dough repeatedly with a fork to keep bubbles from forming. I prebake them in a 425-degree oven for about 10 minutes, then top them with the homemade pizza sauce, plenty of freshly shredded mozzarella(pre-shredded cheese is coated with potato starch and doesn't melt as well), and a variety of toppings. One pizza is usually topped with chicken or ground sausage. Another cost saver, I buy two pounds of ground sausage, cook it up and then place 1/4 cup into freezer bags to use later. One large pizza needs only about 1/4 cup of ground sausage!
Then I bake them until the crust is a toasty brown and the cheese is bubbling. Meanwhile, I either put together a salad or more often than not put frozen broccoli into the microwave. Everyone is happy!
This is an American-Italian meal. The Italian Seasoning blends appear in both the sauce and the dough. The addition of whole wheat flour is something I doubt you would find in most pizza doughs and if anything would seem blasphemous to most Italian chefs. However, my crew needs the extra nutrients and fiber that whole grain provides. I'm not terribly familiar with what sides pizza would be served in Italy if any, but steamed broccoli is a household favorite, it's cheap, easy, and again loaded with nutrients and fiber:)
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