I’ve used that dough many times. I highly recommend it.
In fact, I get all of my pizza ingredients at TJ’s. I use one of their spaghetti/pasta sauces for the tomato sauce (my favorite so far is the vodka marinara), and they sell stuff like grated cheese, sliced pepperoni, bags of frozen bell pepper slices that work great for toppings.
Unglazed quarry tile works very well in place of a pizza stone. Instead of buying one large piece, buy smaller tiles and arrange them side-by-side in your oven to create a baking surface. That way, if one of them cracks, it’s not such a big deal.
Some bakers believe that proofing the yeast is unnecessary, but I like to do it anyway, if only to make sure the yeast is still viable. I’ve bought “fresh” yeast several times only to find out that it’s dead when I proof it. Better to learn this early than to waste a lot of time and ingredients only to find out an hour later after your dough doesn’t rise. Use only bottled water – if your tap water has too much chlorine, it may kill off some of the yeast.
When you’re mixing the dough, add a bit of Parmesan and/or or Italian seasoning for flavor. Fresh garlic works too. I also like to brush a light coat of olive oil over the top of the dough right before I add the toppings.
I love the idea for using tiles for a pizza stone. I was thinking about buying one. I probably even have a bunch of saltillo tiles lying around. I for one have no recipe for pizza sauce. Any of you guys want to help me out?
What’s the difference between pizza sauce and regular spaghetti sauce? I’ve always used spaghetti sauce with good results.
Guess which parts are missing from my Cuisinart due to (*very *educated guess here) idiot housemates?
If you guessed the 1. Grater disc; 2. Dough blade; and 3. Cook book, remind me to bring you cookies when I come visit for your prize! (I’ll be eBaying for spare parts in September).
I had NO idea TJs had frozen dough. I gotta go there this week to get goodies for Cheez_Whia so I’ll poke around for it, thanks teela. I may do half the pre-made and half home-made. I’ve been trying to learn how to work with yeast breads and I don’t quite rock it totally, but I could use the practice anyhow. I’ll try a few recipes from here over the course of the month ('cause when I get started on a culinary venture I tend to take it to the limit for a few months). I’ll probably go half and half grill and oven method since I’ll be cooking for a dozen or so. I’ll go to Despot and get a few tiles and/or a terracotta fixture of some sort.
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone - I’ll look over the thread more carefully tomorrow after my Friday night beer, cigars and movie have worn off. 
TommyTutone, I envy your rig, truly. I got my first awesome grill this summer, so I’m not ready for quite what you’ve got going, but I salute you! I can’t wait until I have enough skills to smoke like a pitmaster.
As for sauce, I have no idea what any difference is, but I plan just to use my modified pomodoro - onion and garlic fried in olive oil, diced tomatoes, basil and oregano. Sometimes I get fancy and do some Chianti in it, which I may since I’m making sauce in bulk this week. Not only pizza for twelve, but I have baked ziti on the menu this week as well.
I have a recipe I really like for crust - it’s just water, flour, yeast, and a smidge of honey. If I let it rise, then roll it out when it’s all fluffy, it rolls out easily to make a thin crackery crust, just enough for a single pizza that fits in my pizza pan (I don’t have a pizza stone). I do NOT like Trader Joe’s pizza-dough-in-a-bag. You might as well try to roll out rubber - it springs back until you wonder why you keep bothering. If it’s been frozen…worse yet.
I use whatever spaghetti sauce I have on hand, which means sometimes it’s roasted red pepper and garlic, and sometimes it’s Four Cheese or something else. My kids eat it up, and with the thin flat crust I never get the wasted pile of uneaten edges of thick, doughy crust like when we order out for pizza.
Reading the pizza guy’s webpage about cooking pizza at 875F…I realize I have never, and likely will never, eat a “real NYC pizza” (or probably, by the measure of pizza purists, a real pizza at all). The idea of a charred crust is both foreign and repugnant to me. I look at his “perfect” crusts and am merely bewildered, because they look like burnt flatbread to me. I suppose I’ll have to try some of his ideas, and see if the kids will eat it. If not, it will be back to the tried-and-true.
My philosophy on sauce is keep it basic, just use the best tomatoes (canned are fine) you can buy.
1 big can of Muir Glen diced tomatoes (regular or roasted), drained or get a good can of Italain tomatoes
a few tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil (I use Frantoia)
salt
red pepper flakes
2-3 chopped cloves garlic
Fresh basil or dried oregano
Blend together (I use an immersion blender) and simmer. Voila. In fact, you could simply this even further and skip the pepper flakes, garlic, and even basil/oregano. Just make sure you’re using good canned tomatoes!
Most of the East Coast places I know usually do something equally simple.
Ususally I like “supreme” pizza, but I also love pizza as described above! Anchovies, sauce, garlic, cheese, and that’s it. There’s a local pizza place, Glory Days, that makes super anchovy pizza.
Don’t try a thick crust at first, or there’s a good chance you’ll have uncooked dough in the middle. You may also want to use meat that you cook first. Thick toppings can leave the meat not fully cooked. The crust will likely rise a lot more than you expect it to. For the first time pizza maker, remember that thin is better to insure a properly done pizza.
Thin is just better, period.
Anyhow, good point on the toppings. Stuff like fresh crumbled Italian sausage sometimes needs to be partially cooked before putting on a pizza–either that or make sure you don’t make too big crumbles. Stuff like pepperoni (which needn’t be cooked) is good for beginners.
That figures! I never used the dough blade since I always made a double batch, but with no recipe you’re skunked.
Bring cookies anyways! Or we’ll make some here!
Those perforated pizza crispers are easier to use than a stone, and they give you a nice crisp crust.
The important thing, I think, is to prevent the crust from rising too much - you end up with something like a loaf of bread with sauce on top. SO:
Make sure the oven is plenty hot - 500 degrees or so.
After you roll out the crust, get the sauce and topping on there as quickly as possible and pop it into the oven right away.
If you pre-make the sauce, heat it up before you spread it on the crust, so that it doesn’t slow down the cooking.
Don’t overdo the sauce and toppings - just a thin layer of sauce is best.
Bake it for about 10 minutes.
I don’t make pizza too often (for waistline-related reasons), but when I do I like to use a focaccia dough for the crust.
I use basic dough, nothing fancy, but…and this is where I deviate from the norm…I use a smallish omlette pan. Olive oil the pan, put dough in, do normal pizza stuff, take out halfway and oil the crust and you’re happy.