Sheet Pan Pizza

​When I was a kid, my mom would make homemade pizza for us fairly often and she always made it in a sheet pan.  It seemed perfectly normal to me to eat rectangular pizza and I never really thought much about the fact that her pizza's weren't round like pizzeria pizzas.  When I saw this recipe for sheet pan pizza in my Cook's Illustrated magazine, it reminded me of the sheet pan pizzas that my mom used to make.  Knowing that my pizza would never compare to hers, I decided to give it a try anyway.  

Sheet Pan Pizza
Dough
1 3/4 cups warm water
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon sugar
5 cups flour
4 1/2 teaspoons rapid rise yeast
2 teaspoons salt

Sauce
1 Tablespoon oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

​Grease large bowl.  Combine water, 1/4 cup oil and sugar in liquid measuring cup.

Combine flour, yeast and salt in stand mixer.

Add wet ingredients to mixer while it is running.  Knead dough for 3 minutes.

Transfer dough to greased bowl and let rise for an hour.

Evenly coat baking sheet with 1/4 cup oil.  

Stretch dough to fit into pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 20 minutes.

For sauce, heat oil in saucepan.  Add garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes.  Heat 30 seconds.

Add tomato paste and cook 2 minutes.

Add crushed tomatoes and cook 20 minutes.  

Make indentations in risen dough with fingertips.

Heat oven to 450.  Sprinkle dough with 1 cup Parmesan cheese and bake 7 minutes.

Spread sauce over dough and bake another 7 minutes.

Sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining Parmesan cheese.  

Bake 12 minutes. 

​The sheet pan pizza was really good.  The crust was nice and crispy, the sauce was flavorful and robust and the cheese was nice and gooey.  It wasn't mom's pizza but it was a pretty close second.

Ciao!

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