One night, I made dinner without planning to blog about it. I mean, I’ve made pizza before, and already shared my homemade dough recipe. But last time, I grilled the pizza. Now that it’s getting a bit chilly out, the grill isn’t used quite so much. So when Nick requested pizza for dinner, I fired up the oven.
That’s when I realized I had no idea how to cook pizza in the oven, and had to refer to my favorite knowledge source, Google.
I figured since I had no idea how to do it, there must be others out there. So I thought I’d blog after all, in case anyone finds it useful!
How to Cook Pizza in the Oven
First, preheat the oven to 450 degrees for at least 30 minutes. You want a nice, hot oven. If you have a pizza stone, put it in the oven while it’s preheating. If you own a pizza stone, you probably don’t need a lesson on how to make pizza.
Stretch the pizza dough out on a pan (if you don’t have a stone). Cover with toppings.
Bake the pizza for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese is just barely browning the crust is crisp.
Ta-da! You baked a pizza! It’s pretty easy. I DO wish I had a pizza stone, though. No matter how thin your dough and how hot your oven, you just can’t get that crisp bottom crust without one.
Topping ideas?
BBQ sauce, chicken, roasted red peppers and caramelized onions:
Drool.
I DO have a pizza stone, but had no idea I was supposed to heat it up first. Duh. Thanks for the tip! <3
Yup! That way it starts cooking the crust immediately when you put the pizza on and it gets nice and crispy! You’re supposed to slide the pizza onto it from a paddle or another pan, or something else creative 😉