The Kid’s Specialty: Pepperoni Double-Mushroom Pizza

Yeah, I’ve tried going authentic and making my own pizza dough. And sauce. And designing my own cheese blend. Then one day I was tired and the kid wanted to help make dinner and I decided to be easy on myself: I bought all the base ingredients pre-prepared and let the kid have at it. The result: we don’t take out from Pizza Hut any more.

Everything in this recipe is found at Metro.

olive oil or cornmeal
1 bag sun-dried tomato-basil pizza dough by Fresh to Go
¾ can garlic basil pizza sauce by Primo
¾ bag pizza blend shredded cheese by Selection
2 cans sliced mushrooms, well-drained
½ bag thick-sliced pepperoni
other toppings as desired

Preheat the oven to 500F (if you don’t have an oven thermometer, allow at least 20 minutes to preheat, even if you have a new oven that tells you it’s ready in 8, because, well, it’s lying to you). If you are using a pizza stone or cast iron, stick it in there until it’s quite warm to the touch.

Prepare the stone or pizza pan with oil or cornmeal. To create a Pizza Hut-style pie, use a pizza stone or a cast-iron pan and a generous amount of oil. For a drier crust, use cornmeal. You can roll out your dough directly on the stone if using oil, or transfer it after rolling if using cornmeal. If you can toss pizza dough, good on you! But, why are you reading this recipe?

Once your dough is rolled out, layer on the sauce with the back of a spoon or ladle, then cheese, then mushrooms, then pepperoni. Don’t be shy about crowding on the pepperoni slices: they are going shrink up in the oven.

Bake on the middle rack 12-16 minutes; watch for cheese browning at the edges. Let pizza rest for a few minutes before slicing.

Save the leftover sauce and cheese for pita pizzas or whatnot. The pepperoni will keep in the freezer for a couple months.