With National Pizza Day on February 9th this year, I asked my husband Colby—my favorite pizza know it all—for some tips and tricks on how to make the best pizzas at home. He has been obsessed with perfecting his pizza-making since he was a kid, and if he’s not making pizza, he’s eating pizza from everywhere that offers it, so there is no one else I would ask. With his signature dough recipe in hand, we tossed some of our favorite ingredients and created a pizza tasty enough to be takeout without having to social distance. Creamy white sauce topped with salty prosciutto, sweet caramelized onions, and Brussel sprouts shaved thin so that while the pizza is in the oven, they get perfectly cooked while staying crisp. I would also suggest making extra dough; it keeps well in the freezer, so homemade pizza night can be any night—even a Tuesday.  

Serving size: 1 twelve-inch pizza

Shaved Brussel 

Sprout White Pizza

Prep Time: 

10 mins

Cook Time: 

7 mins

Total Time: 

17 mins

Ingredients

1 pizza dough

¼ cup alfredo sauce

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

5 Brussel sprouts, thinly sliced

3 slices prosciutto

¼ cup caramelized onions

A drizzle of balsamic reduction

Instructions

1. Roll out prepared pizza dough into a twelve-inch circle. Lay the dough either on a pizza peel with a sprinkle of cornmeal—to ensure it doesn’t stick and slides easily into the oven—or onto a parchment-lined sheet tray.

2. Starting in the center, spread the alfredo sauce evenly, covering the dough to nearly the edge.

3. Sprinkle ¾ of the cheese over the pizza, then the onions, prosciutto, brussels sprouts, and finally the remaining cheese.

4. Place in a 550˚ oven either on a preheated pizza stone or on a sheet tray and cook for five to seven minutes, or until golden brown. Remove, allow to cool, and then drizzle balsamic reduction. Slice and serve.

3 dough balls

Pizza Dough

Prep Time: 

20 mins

Cook Time: 

1 min

Additional Time: 

4 hrs

Total Time: 

4 hrs 21 mins

Ingredients

375 grams water, lukewarm

7 grams active dry yeast

4 grams extra virgin olive oil

7 grams salt

612 grams flour

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt, then set aside.

2. In your stand mixer or another large bowl (that has been warmed to the same temperature as the water) add water and yeast. Allow the yeast to bloom for about three to five minutes.

3. Once the yeast is bloomed, add the flour-salt mixture to the bowl and either mix or turn on your mixer and knead until the dough comes together.

4. Drizzle in olive oil, continuing to knead for fifteen minutes, or until the dough comes together in a ball and bounces back.

5. Once kneaded, shape the dough into a ball and coat with olive oil. Add the dough to the bowl, cover, and allow to rise on the counter for three to four hours or in the fridge for twenty-four hours (if you refrigerate the dough, remove it forty-five to sixty minutes before assembly).

Colby’s tips and tricks for making the best pizza at home

Make sure you’re using fresh high quality 00 flour. This will make the best pizza dough you’ve ever had!

If you don’t have a pizza oven, (like most of us) you should invest in a pizza stone to use in your oven. Preheat your stone in the oven for at least forty-five minutes at the max temp, and convection if you have it.

Whole milk, low moisture mozzarella works best. If you want to use fresh mozzarella, I prefer to slice it then and dry it out as much as I can on sheets of paper towels. This helps to avoid creating pools of moisture on your beautiful pizza.