The best homemade pizza in Jersey — cousin Jenny’s special recipe

It is no secret. I love pizza. OK, I've cut way down on flour products, opting for ancient grains and Einkorn pasta, but I will make an exception for a homemade pizza when I clean out the fridge!

Here's the simple recipe, that honestly I made up after grabbing a can of fire-roasted tomatoes out of the pantry (seriously, there is no cousin Jenny, I made that up).

• Heat some olive oil in a non-stick pan.
• Chop up a small white onion and put it in the hot oil. Sauté the onions until you can start to see thru them.
• Add in a few cloves of chopped garlic.
• After about 30 to 45 seconds, not much longer (total disaster if you burn the garlic), add the tomatoes.
• Then season with Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
• Keep it simmering on low and cook off a good portion of the liquid.
• You can add a little bit of red wine (hopefully you opened a bottle of red wine before starting the process).

OK, now for the dough.

• Make sure the dough comes to room temp. I usually put it on a baking pan with a little olive oil and sit it on the stove while I'm cooking the sauce.
• Make sure there's enough oil coating the entire pizza dough and spread flat on the baking sheet.
• Season with garlic powder, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes.
• Pre-heat the oven to 475.
• Cook the dough for about 8-9 minutes on the high temp. Then lower the temp to 375 and remove the pan.
• You're gonna need about 4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese. I may use 5...
• Spread some cheese on the mostly cooked dough.
• Then add the hot tomato sauce on top of the cheese.
• Then a final layer of shredded cheese.
• I also cut a half stick of pepperoni (and made sure I peeled off the protective covering!).
• Make sure every possible bite has a piece of pepperoni.
• Then put back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

Make sure the bottom is nice and golden brown. You may put the pie under the broiler for another minute or so to get a crisp on the crust, cheese and pepperoni slices.

Enjoy. Thanks Cousin Jenny!

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea. The opinions expressed here are solely those of Bill Spadea.

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