Bon Appetit: Fresh Italian Pizza Recipe

Did you know that February 9th is National Pizza Day? For me, pizza is always one of those indulgent things, especially when you go out for it. However, did you know how simple it is to make your own pizza at home? Whether you make your own crust (which I have done, but not for this recipe), or you buy a pop-n-fresh, or you have an awesome grocery store that has fresh pizza dough in the bakery…it doesn’t matter. Pizza is an easy way to be creative and even sneak some veggies in.

This is the finished product! It was so delicious and so easy to make. This is actually something that my family started doing. I tweaked it just a bit for my own preferences, and access to certain materials. That’s the great thing about this though! This pizza recipe is so versatile. You can add meat, switch out the vegetables or the sauce…a million different combinations.

Fresh Italian Pizza Recipe

Ingredients:

  • Onion
  • Bell Peppers
  • Pizza Crust
  • Tomato
  • Tomato Sauce
  • Ricotta Cheese
  • Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
  • Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
  • Fresh Basil
  • Seasoning  – To Taste

Directions:

Preheat oven based on the specifications of your selected pizza dough. It’s usually about 425 degrees.

Chop up your onion and bell peppers. I prefer to dice mine, but you can keep them a bit longer or even do the full pepper “ring” if you choose. For a 9×13 pizza, I used about 1/3 of an onion, and half of each pepper. Set these aside.

Season your ricotta. I added some pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, parsley, and oregano. That’s a fairly standard Italian spice blends.

Put your pizza dough in your pan of choice. I was taking this one to my friend’s house for our Monday Night Girls’ Night, so I opted for a 9×13 pan. This resulted in a thicker, fluffier crust. You could also use a pizza stone as well. You can season the crust if you want to. Brush it with some olive oil, and sprinkle with seasonings.

Slice up a large tomato, and line the crust. I’m really bad at cutting tomatoes. I don’t particularly like them, so I never really eat them. This layer was kind of a mess.

Cover with sauce. I used a storebought sauce (Shame on me…). You can use any variety of red sauces or even make a white pizza using an alfredo base. Get a little fancy and try pesto!

Scoop some dollops of your ricotta mix on. You can use as much or as little as you want. If you wanted to do a creamy tomato sauce, you could mix the tomato sauce and ricotta before putting it on your pizza.

Sprinkle on your veggies! I also halved my bite size fresh mozzarella and added that as well.

Sprinkle with your shredded mozzarella. This did “brick up” a bit after coming out of the oven, so you would probably be fine with just the ricotta and fresh mozzarella.

Bake based on the instructions of your selected pizza crust. Mine baked for about 15 minutes. I prefer a softer, fluffier crust, so you can bake it longer if you like it a bit more crispy.

This was based on a simple 13×9 pan like this one. You can also use a simple pizza stone if you have that available. Just be sure to vary your cook time depending on what pan you use.

That’s it! Super simple and completely customizable. Please share your pizza recipes!

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