School Cafeteria Pizza

 

Pizza day was not a thing when I was going to school. We brought our lunches in a lunch box, ate in the lunch room and about the only thing we had on offer to purchase was milk, which was always warm. Blech. 

I can remember reading about school cafeteria's in the big cities and wondering what it might be like to actually have a hot lunch on offer  at school. 

When I got to University (short lived) at Acadia there was a cafeteria and they had the BEST French fries.  Mind you, any kind of French fries were good to me at that age!

  

 

When my own children were going to school, they did offer a hot lunch program, three days a week. I used to volunteer for it.  The kids love LOVED pizza day, or pizza pocket day.  They always got a nice slice of pizza and some crisp vegetable sticks with ranch dressing.

I loved being able to volunteer for this program. My cohort in crime was my friend Debbie from across the road.  We used to prepare the pizza pockets etc. in her kitchen and then warm them up at the school. Everything else was made on premises. (We are talking 30 years ago now!)

 

My cousin Hal owns the best pizza place in the Valley. The Pizza Factory here in town.  He supplies pizza for all of the elementary schools in the area once a week.  If you are ever in the Valley look him up, and tell him I sent you.

Best pizza ever. The crust is a secret recipe that only he and my cousin Sheri know. My brother always has to have Hal's pizza at least once when he is home for a visit, and when my kids are visiting we do the same thing.  We just gotta have Hal's!

This School Cafeteria Pizza is not a top secret school pizza recipe. You can find various versions of it all over the web.  I purloined mine from Plain Chicken. Its a recipe I have had my eye on for a very long time.

Today was the day. All the stars were aligned. I went for it.  

 

With its super easy pourable crust and my own recipe for the sauce, it ended up being a truly wonderful pizza. Yes, you did read that right.  It has a super easy pourable crust.

The sauce is one I have been making for years and years.  The culmination of years of testing to get it just right I, personally, think it is the best sauce!  It does make 2 cups of sauce, but what you don't use today can be frozen and thawed out another time. 

You can even freeze it in ice cube trays, pop out the frozen cubes and put them into an air tight container. Ready to take out one or two when you are wanting your own special one person pizza.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SCHOOL CAFETERIA PIZZA

Pretty simple store cupboard ingredients. Apparently the original recipe fed 100.  How they cut it down to serve just 8 is a miracle, but it works beautifully!

For the crust:

• 1 TBS shortening
• 1 1/2 TBS cornmeal
• 2 1/2 tsp yeast
• 1 2/3 cup (392ml) warm water
• 2 1/2 cups (350g) plain all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup (86g) dry milk powder
• 2 TBS granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp oil

 

For the sauce: (makes enough for two pizzas, but does freeze well)

• 2 cups (480ml) tomato sauce (passata)
• 3 TBS tomato paste (thick tomato puree)
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1/4 tsp chinese five spice powder
• seasalt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

 

You will also need pizza toppings:

• 2 cups (260g) grated Mozzarella cheese
• 2 TBS grated Parmesan cheese
• other pizza toppings of your choice (I used bacon, sausage, pepperoni, onions and green peppers)

You are free of course to choose whatever toppings you like.  I love green olives on a pizza, but I did not have any today.  In the UK we could buy pouches of dry cured green or black olives. I loved those. There is no such thing where I live now.  

 

HOW TO MAKE SCHOOL CAFETERIA PIZZA

Nothing could be easier. I love the pourable crust. It ends up so nice and fluffy, with a great crispy edge and bottom.

Begin with making the crust. Measure the yeast and warm water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Leave to prove for 4 to 5 minutes.

Add flour, salt, sugar, dry milk powder and oil. Mix with the whisk attachment for 10 minutes. The batter should be mostly smooth, but a few lumps may remain.

Grease a rimmed half sheet pan (13 by 18 inches) with some shortening. Sprinkle the cornmeal over top.

Pour the pizza crust into the pan. Use a rubber spatula to spread it out evenly in the pan. Set aside to rest for 20 minutes. 

 

Spreading out the crust was the hardest part. You might think it isn't going to cover the pan, but do be diligent and persevere. It will! Trust me.

I poured it into a rough rectangle down the length of the middle of the pan and worked my way out with a rubber spatula from there. It took a good 8 minutes or so, but I got there in the end. Do try to make sure that it is even. 

 To make the sauce, (I do this while the crust is rising, etc.) combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes in order to allow the flavors to infuse. This will make enough for two large pizzas, but you can freeze what you don't use today. 

I used to make the Mr a pizza about once every couple of weeks when I worked at the Manor. He loved it and he adored my sauce.  When it comes to pizza you need to get two things right. The crust and the sauce!  If those are not right, then your pizza won't be right!

 

Preheat the oven to 450*F/232*C/ gas mark 7.  Bake the pizza crust for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and top with the sauce, cheeses and your desired pizza toppings.

Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and started to brown.

Leave to stand for 5 minutes and then cut into squares to serve.

 

In retrospect I probably could have put more pepperoni on my pizza. Its hard to tell when too much is too much. It does shrink when it cooks. This was really good though.

You can get packages of half cooked bacon and Italian sauce for pizzas at our Super Store.  I keep a couple of these in the freezer and then just crumble onto my pizzas what I need when I need it.

It says its enough for two large pizzas in each, but for me it goes a lot further.  I like the Pizza Delight dry cure pepperoni. It has a nice flavor and isn't too salty. 

 

I thought that this was delicious.  I really, really enjoyed it. I will be interested to hear what my sister has to say about it. I gave her half the pizza for them to enjoy. Lets face it, its a bit too much pizza for me on my own! 

 I am so happy to be living near family now.  This was something I really missed when I was in the UK, as much as I did love it there. There is no real substitute for family! 

You really need to try this pizza. Your family will thank you for it! 

 

If you are a pizza fiend like myself you might also enjoy these other versions! 

ULTIMATE PIZZA BAGELS - Why settle for an inferior frozen brand when making your own from scratch is so simple and easy to do. I love these and I bet you will too! 

QUICK NAAN BREAD PIZZAS - Naan breads make excellent pizza bases. Actually any flat bread does.  I often buy the mini naans to make individual pizzas. A riff on the old English muffin idea! 

School Cafeteria Pizza

Yield: 8

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 35 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 55 Min

We never had pizza day when I was at school, but my children did. I also worked as a school lunchroom lady. Pizza day was everyone's favorite day!

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1 TBS shortening
• 1 1/2 TBS cornmeal
• 2 1/2 tsp yeast
• 1 2/3 cup (392ml) warm water
• 2 1/2 cups (350g) plain all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup (86g) dry milk powder
• 2 TBS granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp oil

For the sauce: (makes enough for two pizzas, but does freeze well)

• 2 cups (480ml) tomato sauce (passata)
• 3 TBS tomato paste (thick tomato puree)
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1/4 tsp chinese five spice powder
• seasalt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

To top:

• 2 cups (260g) grated Mozzarella cheese
• 2 TBS grated Parmesan cheese
• other pizza toppings of your choice (I used bacon, sausage, pepperoni, onions and green peppers)

Instructions

1. Begin with making the crust. Measure the yeast and warm water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Leave to prove for 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Add flour, salt, sugar, dry milk powder and oil. Mix with the whisk attachment for 10 minutes. The batter should be mostly smooth, but a few lumps may remain.
3. Grease a rimmed half sheet pan (13 by 18 inches) with some shortening. Sprinkle the cornmeal over top.
4. Pour the pizza crust into the pan. Use a rubber spatula to spread it out evenly in the pan. Set aside to rest for 20 minutes.
5. To make the sauce, (I do this while the crust is rising, etc.) combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes in order to allow the flavors to infuse. This will make enough for two large pizzas, but you can freeze what you don't use today.
6. Preheat the oven to 450*F/232*C/ gas mark 7.
7. Bake the pizza crust for 10 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and top with the sauce, cheeses and your desired pizza toppings.
9. Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and started to brown.
10. Leave to stand for 5 minutes and then cut into squares to serve.

Did you make this recipe?

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