How to Have a Crispy Bottom

Doesn't this pizza look tempting? Hot and aromatic... fresh out of the oven and ready to eat. There was a time when my pizzas' bottom crusts didn't look like this. If you too would like to have a crispy bottom, then here is my secret. I have a good pizza recipe on my blog.

You will need both a good pizza stone and baking parchment paper.

Heat the oven to 450 degrees, with the pizza stone on a lower rack.


When the dough is ready, roll it out onto a regular pizza pan. Sprinkle lightly with flour, so that the dough doesn't stick to itself. Carefully fold it in half and slide it off the pan. Place parchment paper on the pan, large enough to fully cover it, and place the dough onto the parchment paper. Place your toppings onto the dough. Here's the pizza I made last week; can you guess which section is Cleo's?

Carry the pan to the oven, and carefully slide it onto the hot stone by pulling the parchment paper. The paper will slide off the pan and onto the stone easily. Be sure to support the pizza with the pan as you're pulling the paper.

Lower the oven heat to 425 degrees and bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on your oven. The side crusts should be puffy and nicely browned. The cheese may brown, also. Sometimes the dough will puff up while baking; if this happens, simply open the oven and quickly pierce the dough with a fork. This will help deflate the dough. Push the dough back down and continue baking.
When the pizza is finished baking, reverse the process. Bring the pizza pan to the hot stone, and pull the parchment toward the pan. Be sure the pizza is fully on the pan. The pizza pan will quickly heat up from the hot pizza, so use hot pads. Place the pizza on a heat proof surface, and carefully pull the parchment paper out from under the pizza. It will not stick at all, but slide right off.


On a side note.... neither Brent nor Cleo had any suggestions for dinner, so I made this pizza just for me. Of course, I graciously shared it with them. No meat!! as Cleo shockingly confided to her Dad. I sprinkled the dough with shredded mozzarella, then scattered the olives onto the cheese. I sliced a couple of young squash and sauteed them in olive oil until done. These were added, along with some diced green bell pepper and thinly sliced onion. Do you see the slices of paste tomatoes? Under each one is a little chiffonade of fresh basil. Putting them under the tomatoes kept the basil from drying out in the oven's heat. And then I sprinkled about two teaspoons of minced garlic all over the pizza. Except Cleo's minimalist slices.
It was delicious! The squash, tomatoes, basil and bell pepper came from my garden.