Pizza crust is important, and if you missed Part 1 about making easy and delicious homemade pizza dough, read up! But we’re really here for the toppings, amiright? Here’s a rundown of ideas for bringing your homemade pizza to the next level!
My friend Rachel (you know her – Bullpin Apparel, chocolate chess pie…) taught me the genius shortcut of getting toppings from a grocery store salad bar! I LOVE this idea since it means you can get a bigger variety without buying, say, a $4 red pepper and a whole container of mushrooms when you only want a little bit of each. If you don’t have veggies in your fridge you need to use up, this is the way to go! A lot of times you can get grilled chicken or another protein to throw on there, too. And it’s already cut up for you.
Sauce: I’ve been dying to try Jen Hatmaker’s House Sauce! I was all set to make it once but then I couldn’t find her preferred brand of canned tomatoes and I reverted to my jar of marinara. We also love this 5 minute basil pesto as a topping!
Our favorite non-standard pizza is this spinoccoli pizza from Annie’s Eats. It has a white sauce that’s heavy on the parmesan cheese, and the broccoli pieces get crispy-roasted and it’s such a delicious combo!
Hmm, but I’m also a big fan of a bbq chicken pizza. Sweet and smoky bbq sauce, chunks of chicken, red onions, bacon if you’re lucky, and a combo of cheddar/mozzarella. YUM.
I also love strategic use of leftovers, and we often grill an extra piece of chicken to throw on a pizza or salad later in the week! Check out this jerk chicken turned jerk chicken pizza from Pinch of Yum. (We’ve made the chicken but didn’t manage to have any leftover!)
Salty-sweet is one of my favorite things, and I Want this honey-drizzled salami pizza from Foodie With Family. And and – this pistachio pesto pizza with fresh mozzarella and honey from How Sweet It Is!
Cheese: anything goes! I can’t stop thinking about this So-Cal Pizza with goat cheese (and avocado!) from A Couple Cooks.
And it’s sort of almost fall, so it’s not too soon to think about a butternut squash and cider caramelized onions pizza like this one from Half Baked Harvest, right?
All this pizza talk has made me miss our favorite Raleigh pizza – Lilly’s. I need to try to recreate the Aristocrat one of these days!
Go ye therefore and put All The Things on your homemade pizza! And please tell me about your favorite topping combos!
