Easy New Dinner Idea: Four Seasons Pizza Recipe
Get creative with these four flavors of pizza, or create your own to suit your taste. Let your kids choose their toppings for a bit of fun.
Servings 4
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 1 packet active dry yeast 2 ¼ teaspoons
- 1 cup warm water 105-110°F
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
General Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese grated
Fall Toppings
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce or sundried tomato paste, see note
- 1/4 cup mushrooms sliced
Winter Toppings
- 1/2 medium potato waxy variety preferred, sliced thin
- 1/4 cup onion sliced thin
- 1/4 cup sliced ham or prosciutto, optional
- 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese optional, or pecorino
Spring Toppings
- 3/4 cup artichoke hearts jarred or fresh, quartered
Summer Toppings
- 1/2 medium tomato sliced
- 4 basil leaves torn
Instructions
Homemade Pizza Dough
- Activate Dry Yeast: In a small bowl combine yeast, sugar and lukewarm water that’s approximately 105-110°F (40-43°C). Let it sit for 10 minutes until bubbly foam forms on the surface.
- Prepare the Dough: In a large bowl mix together flour and salt. Then create a well in the middle.
- Pour the yeast mixture into the well. Bring the flour in gradually from the sides with your hands to blend into the liquid.
- When everything is slightly mixed, add the oil. (It’s important to add oil last as this allows the flour to hydrate properly)
- Knead the Dough: Keep mixing and when everything starts to come together, knead your dough by hand for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic (You will need about 8 minutes if you use a mixer. See notes below). You need to knead until the dough is soft and elastic. If it slowly bounces back when you poke it with your finger, it is ready for the next step.
- Let the Dough Rise: Grease another large bowl with olive oil. Place the dough into the bowl and rub with oil all over.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size. (After rising, you can wrap and store it in the fridge or freezer for later use, or if you use it immediately, continue to the next step).
- Preheat the Oven: When the dough almost finishes rising, this is the time to preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C). It usually takes about 15 minutes to heat up.
- Shape the Dough: Place the dough on a floured surface and stretch the dough by gently flattening it into a 12-inch (30mm) circle with your fingers. Stretch it out to about 1/8-inch (3mm) thick for a thin crust, and 1/4-inch (6mm) thick for a thick crust. (Avoid kneading the dough at this stage)
- Transfer it to a nonstick pizza pan or baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Use a fork to poke holes across the surface of the dough, so it doesn’t develop large bubbles while baking.
Pizza Assembly & Baking
- Brush your crust lightly with olive oil all around.
- Fall: Brush one quarter of the crust with tomato sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly on top and arrange the sliced mushrooms on the cheese.
- Winter: Arrange the sliced potato to cover one quarter of the pizza. Add sliced onion on top followed by optional ham and parmesan.
- Spring: On the next quarter of the pizza, sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly. Then arrange the artichoke hearts on top.
- Summer: On the final quarter, sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly. Then add the tomato slices and half of the basil leaves.
- Place the pizza in the preheated oven and bake for 12-14 minutes, or until puffy and golden.
- Remove from the oven. Garnish the summer quarter with fresh basil and cool slightly before serving.
Notes
- Cheese: You can use mozzarella on the entire pizza for simplicity, or different cheeses for each season. Some great options include provolone (spring), fontina (fall) and pecorino (winter)
- Tomato Sauce: Here we’ve used it on the fall section only, but you can add it to spring and summer too if you wish. The sundried tomato paste will work as well.