I grew up in Wichita, Kansas where Pizza Hut was born. My mother went to work for Frank and Dan Carney in 1968 when they were still a local company but starting to expand outside of Wichita. In those days we had a “pass” that allowed us to pick up a pizza anytime we felt the urge so we ate quite a few pizza’s those first couple of years that my Mom went back to work. The original Pizza Hut pizza was really, really delicious with a super crisp crust that I’ve done my best to recreate at home. I use a crust recipe that I found on The Pioneer Woman website because its so close to the original Pizza Hut Pizza. The toppings vary but this is my favorite when I have fresh rosemary in the house.
Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup warm water (130 degrees for best results)
1/2 tsp. yeast
3 tbsp. olive oil
Instructions:
Whisk the dry ingredients. Run tap water until it is hot and fill your measuring cup. Use a candy thermometer to check the temperature – it should be about 130 degrees. Add the yeast and stir, let sit for 10 minutes. Put the flour and salt in a mixing bowl and turn on your mixer with the paddle attachment, gradually add the water and yeast. Add the olive oil and continue to beat until dough is blended. Spray a glass bowl with Pam and transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot for 15 minutes or for as long as several hours. You can even keep the dough in the fridge for several days.
When the dough is ready to roll out sprinkle flour on the counter and put a little on top of the dough to make it easier to handle. Use a rolling pin and roll until you have a rectangle- about 9 x 12. Line a baking sheet with foil, spray with Pam and transfer the crust to the pan.
Ingredients for topping:
Marinara sauce (about 1 cup)
fresh parmesan cheese
fresh mozarrella cheese (about 2 cups)
1/4 onion chopped
fresh rosemary
1/2 lb. sweet italian sausage
fennel seed and red pepper flakes
Instructions:
Cook the sausage with about 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed and 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes. This is all to taste but these are approximately the measurements I use. Don’t over cook the sausage, it should just be brown. Drain any fat and reserve the sausage.
Spread the marinara sauce onto the pizza dough. You can make your own but this one of those times that you can cheat and pick up a jar at the grocery store. Make sure that you coat all of the crust with the sauce but be careful not to over do it since there’s nothing worse than a soggy crust so less is more in this case. Sprinkle a thin coating of parmesan cheese over the dough.
Add the sausage, chopped onion and shredded mozarella. I think it makes a huge difference to buy fresh mozarella rather than the packaged pre-shredded variety. Go ahead and give it a shot – I think you’ll agree with me.
Top with the rosemary, drizzle with a little olive oil and bake at 375 degrees until it’s nice and bubbly and lightly browned. Finish off with a little more parmesan cheese.
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