DIY: Homemade pizza is easy, delicious and cheap
Posted
Mar 20 2009, 03:25 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Making pizza at home costs about $3 -- and that includes sauce and cheese, not just bare-naked crust. Additional toppings will cost a little more.
We've begun making cheap and delicious pizza at home and, it turns out, so have a number of other frugal bloggers. We all have our own methods, but the results always satisfy. "I've felt few moments of triumph sweeter than creating pizza from scratch," said Kris at Cheap Healthy Good.
There's more than one way to make a pie. Here's what you need to know to get started:
Crust
Kris' method: She makes a yeast dough from scratch that has a medium thickness -- or roll it out more to make a thinner crust. Her dough rests for only the time it takes to prepare toppings. (Please note: Sausage and other raw meats, and some veggies, need to be cooked before you put them on the pie.)
Trent Hamm's method, from The Simple Dollar: He substitutes beer for water when making a yeast dough, and often adds spices and cheese as he kneads it. His dough rests covered for an hour.
Jim Wang's method, from Bargaineering: Jim cheats and uses Boboli. Hey, that's not frugal!
Our method: We cheat, too, and use a 49-cent package of Martha White thin crust mix.
Sauce
Kris' method: She uses a favorite homemade sauce.
Trent's method: He mixes plain canned tomato sauce with Italian spices.
Jim's method: Mr. Boboli uses Don Pepino pizza sauce. (We kid Jim, who is beginning to explore dough from scratch.)
Our method: We drain diced canned tomato, and add spices and extra virgin olive oil.
Prep
Kris' method: She puts sauce and all toppings but cheese on an unbaked crust, bakes for 11 to 14 minutes, then adds hand-grated cheese and bakes for another six.
Trent's method: He bakes the crust for six minutes before adding toppings to prevent "the dreaded doughy crust," then adds sauce, cheese and other toppings and bakes some more.
Jim's method: He layers sauce and toppings and bakes for seven to 10 minutes.
Our method: We apply extra virgin olive oil to the crust, bake for several minutes, than add sauce and bake for 10 minutes more. After that, we add toppings and more extra virgin olive oil, and bake until cheese is starting to brown.
For temperatures and other preparation tips, read the posts by each blogger linked above.
Bonus tip: Philip Brewer provides a very thorough description at Wise Bread about how to make your own sourdough, which makes a delicious pizza crust.
Related reading:
The Great Depression can teach us about frugality and food
DIY: This home brew is for you
The world's cheapest snack
DIY: Make a fast-food milkshake at home
