Friday Night Movie Night: Sheet Pan Pizza and homemade sauce

I love a family tradition.  Especially when it means I don't have to rack my brain, figuring out what to cook for dinner.  Every Friday we have a movie night and we eat the same thing with it every time.

And yep.  The whole thing is from scratch.  If you've already got flour, yeast, olive oil, and garlic salt on hand (please tell me you do) it will cost you roughly:
$1.89 - mozzarella cheese
$2.00 - pepperoni
$1.00 - can of tomato crushed/chopped/sauce/whatever's on sale.  You can even adapt the recipe for varying size cans.

(That's if you're shopping at the Commissary--might cost a little more at the regular civvy grocery store)

That's less than $5.00 for 24 slices of thick, crusty, crunchy-on-the-bottom, cheesy, greasy, Friday night goodness.

I got this out of a Cook's Country magazine that has been splayed out flat on top of my microwave so many times it's all dog-eared and stained.  For the most part, I stick to it but I've worked in my own little quirks the way home cooks do.

Before you begin:
Take out your bottom rack and put it in the lowest possible position--right on top of the heating element.  Turn your oven on, then after a minute, turn it off so it's nice and warm.

Here's what you'll need:
5 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
Combine these ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer and give it a whirl with the dough hook to mix them up.

In a 2 cup glass measuring cup combine:
1 3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 T. granulated sugar
Pour water mixture into stand mixer while the dough hook is spinning on low.  Let it go until the dough comes together and then bump it up to medium to smooth out the dough.  Shouldn't take more than about 5 minutes.  Dump it out on a floured counter and knead it slightly with your hands to get it into a neat little ball.  Put it into a large oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel, and set it on the bottom rack in that warm oven.

While that's rising (it will sit there for about 30 minutes) get your sheet pan ready by pouring in 1/4 cup of olive oil and spreading it over the bottom.  I know it sounds like a lot but trust the Cook's Country folks.  They know what they're doing!  That's what makes it so crunchy on the bottom.  Don't skimp.

You can also start your pizza sauce (it's got to simmer for a good long while).  Start by heating up a sauce pan.  Add a couple T. of olive oil, 2-4 crushed garlic gloves (or garlic powder), 1/2 -1 tsp of dried basil, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.  Let it heat up and release it's yummy aroma.  When you hear it start to sizzle, add a big healthy dollop of tomato paste (I skip this if I don't have any on hand but it's really better to add it).  When it's heated through, dump in your can of tomato product.  If you're using crushed or sauce, you're good to go.  If you're using diced, you can just take a potato masher to it and take care of those big chunks.  If you're using a large can, obviously, double the spices and aromatics and only use half of it on the pizza (I use the other half next Friday, or for spaghetti sauce, lasagna, etc).  Let it simmer until you're ready to use it, stirring occasionally. The idea is to get most of the water out of it so you don't end up with a soggy crust.

After 30 minutes, punch the dough down, turn it out on the floured surface again, and use a rolling pin to get it into roughly the shape of your sheet pan.  Pick it up and transfer to the oiled pan (this is tricky--I roll half of it onto the rolling pin and pick up the other end with my bare hands.  It's pretty sturdy--I haven't stuck my finger through it yet!).  Press it with your fingers so that it fits but don't worry if it's not all the way to the rim.  It'll fill out as it rises again.  Cover it with plastic wrap and set it on top of the stove burners you're not using.  You're going to preheat to 450 now so that will give it a nice warm place to sit and rest.

You can use this time to prep your other ingredients: grate the cheese, chop the onions/peppers/olives/toppings of choice.

After about 20 minutes, your dough should be well-proofed.  Dimple it with your fingertips, leaving an edge of crust all the way around.

Sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes (this begins browning the bottom and since the top has to cook at the same time, you're giving the sauce something to hold onto).

After 10 minutes, spread your sauce over it and bake for another 10 minutes (this continues the browning process and draws even more moisture out of the sauce--when you pull it out, it will be all steamy!)

After 10 minutes, take it out and top to your heart's content.  We are purists and go for pepperoni and mozzarella.  I also brush the outside edge with extra olive oil and sprinkle garlic salt all the way around (that part is so yummy, even my kids eat their pizza bones).

The fully topped pie will bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.  Take it out, let it cool slightly, and either slice it in the pan (if you're not worried about getting lines in the pan) or turn it out to slice it.  I use a giant white plastic cutting board so that I can carry it to the living room and eat off of the board while we watch our Friday night movie.

Just look at that crusty goodness!

This will take about 2 hours from start to finish and you pretty much have to stick with it the whole time.  It's a bit of a labor of love--but it's FIVE DOLLARS!  Throw in a redbox movie and you've got a family tradition for around 6 smackaroos.

Here's the full ingredient list:
5 cups flour
4 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup warm water
About 3/4 cup olive oil, combined
About 1/4 - 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (the good old green can stuff is just fine)
1 T. sugar
1 can of canned tomato product
2-4 garlic cloves (or garlic powder)
1/2-1 tsp basil (or you can sub fresh if you want to splurge)
pinch red pepper flake
1 T. tomato paste
Mozzarella cheese
pepperoni
garlic salt
toppings of choice