Homemade Stuffed-Crust Pizza from Scratch
An easy, simple, from-scratch pizza made with just a handful of ingredients. Perfect for a first-time pizza maker!
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Large Bowl
- Pizza Pan, Pizza Stone, or Large Flat Baking Sheet
- Rolling Pin
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Pizza Sauce
- 1 Can Tomato Sauce One can is 15 oz. here.
- 1 Can Tomato Paste One can is 6 oz. here.
- 1 tbsp Oregano
- 1 ½ tbsp Basil
- ½ tbsp Black Garlic Salt Regular garlic salt is fine too.
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Onion Powder
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper Adjust more or less to taste
- 1 tsp Sugar
Pizza Dough
- 1 cup Warm Water 105-115º F
- 1½ tsp Sugar
- 2¼ tsp Active Dry Yeast Make sure it's fresh! (One Packet)
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil Optional: Heat with minced garlic for ~5 minutes for an infused oil.
- 2 tsp Basil
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour Plus extra to adjust texture when mixing the dough. AP Flour makes a light, fluffy dough. Bread flour makes a denser dough better for thin crust pizzas.
- 1 tsp Salt
Toppings of your choice
Instructions
For the Sauce
- In a bowl, mix the tomato sauce and tomato paste together and stir to combine until there are no lumpy pockets of paste.
- Add the spices and stir to mix well.
- Transfer to jar or storage container to store. Letting it rest over night makes the flavors blend more strongly, but isn't necessary. Note that this recipe makes way more than you need for a single pizza; you can use it for any number of saucy baked goods! It stores well for at least a week in a sealed container in the fridge.
For the Dough
- Combine 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar, salt, basil, and garlic powder in a mixing bowl.
- Add olive oil and warm water, stirring well or mixing on low with a stand mixer.
- Gradually add 1 cup of flour. Add more if the dough is too sticky; you're looking for the dough to form a cohesive and elastic ball that starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl as you mix.
- In a mixer with a dough hook, knead the dough on medium for about three minutes.
- Coat a large bowl with olive oil, then transfer the dough into this bowl. Cover with plastic or a towel and leave in a warm place to proof.
- Let the dough proof for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Pre-heat your oven to 425º F
- Deflate the dough gently, then transfer to a lightly floured surface.
- Using a rolling pin, work the dough out into a 14" circle.
- Transfer the crust onto your parchment paper.
- Spread some cheese around the outer edge of the crust, then fold the outer edge in over the cheese, pinching it down to form a stuffed crust.
- Using a fork, stab the crust over the inner surface. This helps prevent air bubbles from forming and disrupting the pizza. Be thorough!
- Brush oil over the crust.
- Transfer the crust, still on the parchment paper, onto your pizza pan, stone, or other baking surface.
- Add sauce; I like about ¼ cup, but you can do more if you want a saucier pizza.
- Add half of the mozzarella and white cheddar evenly across the top.
- Spread your toppings on top of the cheese.
- Cover the toppings with remaining cheese, adding the parmesan on top.
- Bake! Start with 13-15 minutes, or until the crust is turning golden and the cheese is deliciously browned.
- Remove from oven and drizzle with balsamic glaze or other sweet sauce. Omit this if you're using a sweet topping like pineapple.
- Let cool enough that you don't burn yourself eating it, slice, and enjoy!