My deep love of pizza comes from my dad. He would make the most incredible pizzas combining different flavors, toppings and cheeses. Whenever I go home I love to request Dad’s homemade pizza!
After I started my blog last year, my dad suggested that I do a Pizza Series with a new and exciting Pizza combo every month! I loved the idea… But pizza is not something that I crave when I’m in the early stages of pregnancy.
I’m finally feeling a little better and definitely craving some delicious pizza so this is the beginning of the Pizza Series!!
I figured we should start with my small family’s favorite: Healthier Homemade Pepperoni Pizza!
It is not nearly as extravagant as my dad’s pizzas. However, it does have the same starting components that make it ah-MAZING! I definitely love pairing this pizza with one of my favorite salads and dressings!
For best results you will want to use the Perfect Pizza Dough and Homemade Pizza Sauce! With these recipes you can make enough for 2 pizzas! Yum….
We can’t afford to put nearly as much cheese on this pizza as my dad would. Plus, we have it once a month (at least), so I figured I should try and health it up a little.
This pizza is a great way to sneak in a few veggies.
Spinach is not high on my kid’s favorite veggies list, so after the sauce I add a tiny bit of cheese and then a layer of spinach and then cover the spinach with pepperoni and cheese to hide all the spinach. They don’t even know its there… except for when they watch me make it!
Luckily, my kids love bell pepper–I’ve brainwashed them to think it’s candy. And they are both pretty big fans of olives. So I just plop those on top to make it pretty!
I love using the pizza stone because it starts baking the pizza while I’m getting all the toppings on, which decreases bake time and allows me to eat dinner that much faster!!
- 1 batch Perfect Pizza Dough
- 1 batch Homemade Pizza Sauce
- 2 cups chopped spinach
- 1½ cups grated cheese
- 1 red bell pepper sliced or diced
- ½ cup sliced olives
- Prepare the pizza dough and sauce ahead of time per instructions. Remember to preheat the pizza stone with the oven.
- Gather and prep all the toppings.
- When the dough is rolled out and ready to go, pull out the pizza stone and sprinkle with corn meal.
- Carefully fold the dough and move it from the table to the stone.
- Spread the sauce carefully over the top of the dough, getting as close to the edges as possible.
- Sprinkle a tiny bit of cheese and spread the spinach over the sauce.
- Layer the pepperoni, cheese, bell peppers and olives.
- Place the pizza stone in the oven and bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is golden brown.
Here are a couple more family favorites:
Homemade Fudge Ripple Ice Cream
Wouldn’t homemade ice cream be a delicious way to finish off the night??
Sign up for our newsletter so that you don’t miss out on the fun printables, new family favorite recipes, DIY projects, parenting tips and more!!
Chelsea says
Yummy! This looks so good! The pizza is so vibrant and colorful, how can you not want to eat it!?
Carisa says
Thanks! I could definitely use another slice!!