While you are here, check out our mushroom pizza or caramelized onion pizza, an easy puff pastry pizza recipe.
Classic Cheese Pizza
Cheese pizza may sound simple, but have you tried a blend of cheeses on your pizza? I especially do this pizza with cheese when I have small blocks of leftover cheese in my refrigerator to clear before a long vacation or after a holiday party. The cheese used on pizza is mozzarella for its texture when cooked. Use only one cheese if you want a traditional pizza flavor and no extra flavors. But if you want to surprise your family with something special for dinner, try this pizza with cheese blend. Use three-cheese, four-cheese, five-cheese, 6 or 7 anything you like. Today we made fresh pizza dough; my family likes an extra kick in pizza, so we seasoned store-bought marinara (pizza sauce) with seasonings and used five cheese. I sometimes use four cheeses to make four-cheese pizza (quattro formaggi pizza) popular recipe from Italian cuisine.
The best cheese for pizza
Mozzarella cheese is a go-to for pizza. It is preferred for its consistency, texture, and flavor. The next 4 cheeses that go well with pizza are cheddar, provolone, gouda, and parmesan cheese. Some other cheeses that you can blend or substitute for any other are fontina, feta, gruyere, ricotta, and goat cheese.
Ingredients
Pizza dough: You need yeast, salt, sugar, oil, and flour with warm water to make homemade pizza dough. Suppose you are in a rush for dinner, then use store-bought pizza dough. 5 Cheese: Use a blend of mozzarella, cheddar, provolone, gouda, and parmesan. Sauce: Use marinara sauce and season with onion, garlic powder, basil leaves, and Italian seasoning. See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Step-by-step instructions
Best Pizza Dough Recipe
Add warm water and sugar to a bowl. Sprinkle yeast and leave it undisturbed for 10 minutes. Let the yeast activate. Add salt, olive oil, and flour in increments and knead to get a smooth yet slightly tacky dough. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover, and let it rest for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Prepare the sauce and cheese
Add marinara sauce and the optional seasoning mentioned in a small bowl, mix well, and keep it aside. In another bowl, combine all the cheese and keep it aside.
Bake the pizza
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Grease the pizza pan with olive oil or butter. Transfer the risen dough to the floured surface and roll it out to a 14-inch or 16-inch circle of desired thickness. Transfer this to the prepared pizza pan. Top the crust with the sauce, followed by a cheese blend. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until the cheese melts and the crust becomes golden in color. Serve and enjoy with broccoli pasta or garlic parmesan bread twists.
Tips
The time to bake a pizza may vary depending on the oven temperature and settings and thickness of the crust. Bake till the cheese melts and the crust becomes golden from the bottom. You can use store-bought pizza dough to make this pizza. Garnish pizza with fresh basil leaves and pepper flakes if desired. I have used bottled pizza marinara sauce. You can use canned tomato sauce or even ketchup and flavor it for the recipe. Adjust all the ingredients to taste.
Variations
Include Margherita pizza topping like tomato and fresh basil leaves with a drizzle of olive oil. Four cheese pizza or quattro formaggi pizza by using mozarella, fontina, parmesan and gorgonzola. White pizza by skipping the pizza sauce and adding ricotta cheese.
More Pizza Recipes
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Recipe card
