The Best Homemade Pizza

I feel a little arrogant to be calling this recipe the best homemade pizza, but my family has really hyped me up to believe just that!

After making homemade pizza and trying a few different things a couple of times in December, I decided I wanted to make pizza for my younger sister and brother-in-law’s visit in early January. And let me tell you, the results were stupendous! Everyone sitting around the lunch table that day raved about how good this pizza was! Or better put, almost everyone. My picky little two-year-old still believes he can make a correct decision about how something tastes just by looking at it!

Weeks later, when I served it again to my older sister and mom to celebrate my birthday, they raved about it just as much! After all the compliments and requests for the recipe, I knew I should include it here.

I use a standard recipe for the pizza dough to make it, along with many other standard items that make up a pizza here in the United States. The secret that makes this pizza so good is the butter garlic mixture I use before placing the marinara over the dough. I spread softened, unsalted butter over the dough, then I sparingly spread minced garlic from the jar on top of the butter.

Using softened, unsalted butter for this recipe really makes a difference. I used melted butter for my garlic butter base one time in December, and it just wasn’t bursting with flavor like the ones I’ve made with softened butter. I also used salted butter one time, and the pizza was overly salty. The garlic butter mixture with the unsalted, softened butter underneath the marinara sauce and toppings really takes this pizza to the next level. If you love pizza as much as my family and I do, I hope you’ll give it a try! And if you do, please be sure to leave a comment to let me know how it turned out for you!

BEST HOMEMADE PIZZA

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ c warm water, separated
• 2 1//4 t active dry yeast (1 packet)
• 1 t granulated sugar
• 3 ½ c all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 T olive oil (plus a little more for drizzling)
• 3-4 T unsalted butter, softened
• 2-3 T minced garlic from a jar*
• 23-ounce jar marinara sauce
• 3-5 cups mozzarella cheese (depending on your personal preference)
• Toppings of choice**

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, gently stir together ½ cup warm water, yeast, and sugar.
2. Cover and set aside for five minutes or until bubbly.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, salt, olive oil, yeast mixture, and additional cup water.
4. Knead gently to incorporate all the flour, then drizzle with a little oil and spread it over the entire ball of dough. Cover and let rise for two hours, or until it has doubled in size.
5. Preheat the oven to 400F.
6. Once the dough has doubled, punch it down and place on a parchment paper in the baking dish of your choice (I have used a cookie sheet to make pan pizzas and a pizza stone to make round pizzas).
7. Roll out the dough to achieve the desired shape.
8. Once the dough is ready, spread over the butter until the dough is entirely covered. Only use what is needed to spread a thin layer of butter over the dough, then spread the minced garlic sparingly over the butter spread. Refer to the picture below.
9. Gently spread the marinara sauce evenly over the pizza, then add the grated cheese and toppings of choice.
10. Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes. Let sit for five or so minutes, then use a pizza cutter to slice as desired and enjoy!

Notes:

*I like using pre-minced garlic from a jar for this recipe, because not only does it save time, but the dough also gets the added flavor of the juice from the jar of minced garlic. If you want to use fresh minced garlic, feel free to do so. Just keep in mind that it may slightly alter the taste.

**Although I have used several different toppings for this pizza, my family has enjoyed the one with ground beef and jalapeño peppers from the jar most. For the beef, I brown it in a pan over the stove with steak seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, and a little bit of garlic and onion powder, then I add ¾ or so of the browned beef to the top of the pizza.