Pat's Delicious Semi-Homemade Italian Pizza

I'll make you a personal guarantee: If this is not the best pizza you ever ate, you come to my house and I'll show you how to make it correctly because you must have messed something up! (heh... heh... heh.... *.* ). Really, no kidding, this IS very good pizza and incredibly easy to turn out. I make it two times a week when enough people are around to justify my efforts. I also use this pizza all the time as a covered dish/appetizer, (I usually make up 2 or 3 because it goes fast!), doing everything but the final baking (which I do on-site) ahead of time. Just cover the unbaked pizza with aluminum foil and everyone will be glad to give you the use of their ovens when you arrive. And did I mention that this is REALLY cheap to make? One final thing -- this is a great recipe in which you can involve the kids and, before you know it, they'll be handling the entire process on their own! Enjoy, my brothers and sisters!

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 4
• Yields: 1 large pizza

Ingredients

• 13  ounces  pizza dough mix (2 packages)
• 4  ounces  pepperoni, sliced thin (I use Hormel brand)
• 8  ounces  pizza sauce (I use Dei Fratelli brand)
• 4  ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 4  ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 2  ounces fresh parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
• 12  black olives, canned, pitted, sliced (optional)
• 1  teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1  cup tap water, hot
• 1  teaspoon dried sweet basil leaves
•  cooking spray

Directions

1. Pour the two packets of pizza dough mix into a large mixing bowl. Add the water and mix with a fork until a ball forms. Ignore the package directions and do the following: cover with a damp towel and set in a warm place for 15 minutes, allowing the dough to rise a bit.
2. Preheat the oven to 450-degrees F.
3. After the dough his risen, spray a 16-inch (or 18-inch) pizza pan with the cooking spray (I use an olive oil spray) and place the dough ball in the center. Wash your hands and rub the 1 teaspoon of olive oil on them -- work the pizza dough out toward the edges. TAKE YOUR TIME! When this is accomplished, place the pizza dough in the preheated oven for 8-9 minutes until there is some VERY SLIGHT BROWNING here and there on the dough. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 3-4 minutes so you can work the sauce on to it without burning your hands.
4. Once you have the sauce on the pizza, sprinkle on the sliced olives and any other toppings you wish, (such as cooked sausage, banana peppers, etc., but NOT the pepperoni). Then, cover the pizza evenly with the cheeses. Cover the pizza with the pepperoni slices and sprinkle the basil all over the pizza.
5. Return the pizza to the 450-degree F. oven, on the rack just below the center, for about 10 more minutes, until you just get some slight browning on the cheese. Remove from the oven and slice with a pizza cutter. Wait 2 minutes before plating up the pizza.
6. NOTE: This makes a super covered dish if you get the pizza ready for the final baking and then do the final baking on-site. Cut it into 2-inch squares for this. I like to take 2 or 3 pizzas along for this as you'll see that it disappears much faster then the entree dish!