It's All About the Dough: 3 Recipes to Build Your Own Pizza Spread

This summer, the Plöbst, Firth, Gwynn, and Munroe families took a summer family trip to the beautiful and serene hillside of Tuscany, Italy, and came back with a renewed sense of appreciation for homemade pizza.  

Italy has excellent food and ingredients, and inspires you to come home and try to make pizza yourself. We love pizza, and last summer, we {Marcie and René} got a pizza oven installed at our house, and we love firing it up for family pizza night.   

Pizza night is very engaging, and it’s a good gathering for multigenerational families to bond over. It's always fun, and as the weather cools, we will be outside using the pizza oven more and more. 

While we were in Italy, we learned about how there’s so much history about pizza and dough and how it was not popular until the 1940s. Pizza, which began as focaccia, was considered a “lower-class” food in Ancient Greece. One day, Queen Margherita ordered it, and the Margherita Pizza got its name's sake. Once it became popular, there was no turning back. And we are grateful for that!  

On our trip, we had two pizza nights at the villa we were staying at. The cook used olive tree wood in the oven, and the dough was homemade and delicious. We went to the local grocery store to pick up the ingredients ourselves so we could customize the different pizzas.   

Three pizzas were our favorites: pizza with prosciutto and arugula, Margherita pizza, and ham and mushroom pizza. We knew we wanted to be able to replicate these recipes when we got back to the states and include them in our own family pizza nights at our house. 

We have also learned that when it comes to making homemade pizza, it is all about the dough. When we make dough at our home, we use flour made by the oldest flour company in Naples, Italy: Caputo Flour, which makes the best pizza dough {in our opinion}.  

We recommend serving your pizza hot out of the oven – just like we had it in Italy. You can pre-cut each pizza so guests can easily grab a slice. For a casual but elevated look, you can stack dinner plates and complementary utensils next to them. For an elevated and more formal look, you can set the table with dinner plates, salad plates, complementary utensils, napkins or placemats, and complementary utensils, like Sabre flatware.  

 

Margherita Pizza 

Serves 6-8, Yields 1 pizza 

Ingredients: 

 

• Homemade pizza dough 
• 1 jar pizza sauce 
• 1 Package pre-sliced spicy salami  
• 2-3 Plum tomatoes, sliced 
• Shredded mozzarella cheese 
• Fresh ground black pepper 
• Dried oregano  
• Fresh basil, optional 
• Sweet onion, optional 
• Pizza oil, optional 

Instructions:

 

1. Spread desired amount of pizza sauce onto pizza dough, making sure to leave the crust area bare.
2. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on dough. Place slices of spicy pepperoni through the pizza.  

3. Ground fresh black pepper across the top, to taste.

4. Sprinkle dried oregano across the top.

5. Drizzle pizza oil across the pizza if desired.  

6. Bake pizza in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until crust is golden and crispy.  

7. Top the pizza with slices of plum tomatoes. Add fresh basil as desired.  

Pro Tip: Add fresh sliced peppers to any pizza to instantly elevate the recipe.  

 

Pizza with Prosciutto and Arugula 

Ingredients:

• Homemade pizza dough 
• Shredded mozzarella cheese 
• 12 oz package mascarpone  
• Fresh ground pepper 
• Arugula  
• Balsamic vinegar glaze, optional 

Instructions: 

1. Spread desired amount of pizza sauce onto pizza dough, making sure to leave the crust area bare. 
2. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on dough. Add dollops of mascarpone to the pizza as desired.  
3. Place prosciutto on top of pizza. Top with ground black pepper as desired. 
4. Bake pizza for 10-12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and crispy.  

5. Top with a generous amount of arugula.

6. Top with more prosciutto, if desired. If desired, drizzle with balsamic vinegar to finish.  

 

Ham and Mushroom Pizza

 Ingredients: 

• Homemade pizza dough 
• 1 jar pizza sauce 
• Cubed deli ham 
• Fresh white or portabella mushrooms, sliced 
• Sweet onion, sliced 
• Fresh ground pepper 
• Dried oregano 

Instructions:

1. Spread desired amount of pizza sauce onto pizza dough, making sure to leave the crust area bare.  
2. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on dough.
3. Spread cubed ham and mushrooms across the pizza to your liking. 

4. Places slices of onion on pizza, and ground black pepper on top. 

5. Garnish with dried oregano, if desired. 

6. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and crispy. 

Note: You can drizzle pizza oil on top if desired.  

 

Serve It Up: 

Our Fundamental 13in Bowl is made of Acacia wood and features a beautiful ruffle edge paired with natural variations for a one-of-a-kind look.
	Our Signature White 9in Bowl can be used to entertain for all seasons.
The Fundamental Ruffle Small Bowl, made of elegant Acacia wood, is great for toppings.
	Our Signature White Dipping Bowl features hand-painted brushstrokes and is ideal for spices or smaller toppings.