When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie...

Here are a few tips I found out by trial and error that help in making homemade pizza.

 I use pre-made frozen dough. You can defrost your dough covered with plastic wrap in a lightly greased bowl overnight in the fridge. Then when you want to use it put the bowl on the counter and bring it to room temperature. If it is still cold it will be hard to stretch it out.
 Spray your pizza pan with Pam. Mine is Teflon-coated and has holes all over the bottom.Preheat your oven to 400’ while you are spreading your dough onto the pan. Sesame seeds can make a nice addition the crust. (If you have a pizza stone put it in the center rack at this time.)
 When it has reached 400’ put the dough without toppings on the top rack of the oven for approximately 5 minutes. This will vary depending on how thick you’ve made the dough. It shouldn’t get browned at all but be firm enough to transfer to the pizza stone if you wish to do so.
 After this remove it from the oven and add your sauce, any toppings, and cheese. It is important to lightly drizzle a little olive oil over the cheese as this will stop the cheese from browning before the crust is done. If you have the pizza stone slide the pizza onto this to bake.
 Bake for about 10 minutes or so. Keep an eye on it as ovens vary.

In the picture the top part of this pizza is regular mozzarella cheese and the bottom is from a fresh braided mozzarella that was marinated in oil and herbs.