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- Pizza dough.\u00a0 We buy ours from a local Italian deli, Claros, and it makes the best pizzas.\u00a0 If you don’t have an Italian deli in your area, Trader Joe’s has good pizza dough.\u00a0 And if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby, you’re on your own.\u00a0 Don’t give up; pizza dough is not always easy to find.\u00a0 But look around for it.\u00a0 Don’t go with prepared pizza crusts; your pizza won’t be nearly as good.<\/li>\n
- Olive oil.\u00a0 Don’t cheap out here.\u00a0 Get the extra virgin stuff.\u00a0 \u00a0Costco has good olive oil.<\/li>\n
- Garlic.\u00a0 Get fresh garlic and squeeze it with a garlic squeezer.\u00a0 Don’t use the pre-diced garlic.\u00a0 Squeeze it fresh.<\/li>\n
- Shredded mozzarella cheese.<\/li>\n
- Shredded parmesan cheese.<\/li>\n
- Ricotta cheese.<\/li>\n
- Green onions (also known as scallions).<\/li>\n
- Kalamata olives.\u00a0 Some people like to use black olives instead of Kalamata olives.\u00a0 There’s no accounting for some people’s tastes, I guess.<\/li>\n
- Large mushrooms (I use 6 or 8, depending on the size of the mushrooms).<\/li>\n
- Sun-dried tomatoes.\u00a0 Get the kind that are bottled in oil; don’t get the dried kind.\u00a0 We prefer the sun-dried sold by Costco, but our local Costco doesn’t always have them.<\/li>\n
- Corn flour.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.<\/p>\n
Spread the corn flour on the pizza pan (the idea here is to prevent the pizza from sticking to the pan).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2535-600.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFlatten and spread the pizza dough on a large pizza pan.\u00a0 I like a thin crust, so we make it as thin as we can.\u00a0 It’s probably about 1\/8-inch after we do this.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2536-600.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPour a puddle of olive oil onto the pizza dough so that it forms about a 4-inch circle.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2537-600.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSeparate one large garlic clove and use the garlic mincer to mince it over the olive oil.\u00a0 Spread the olive oil and the minced garlic over the entire top of the crust.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2538-600-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSpinkle a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese over the pizza.\u00a0 \u00a0Don’t get carried away here; less is more.\u00a0 \u00a0You want the cheese to come close to the outer diameter of the crust.<\/p>\n
Dice three or found green scallions and sprinkle on top or the mozzarella cheese.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2539-600-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nChop up 15 or 20 Kalamata olives and sprinkle on top of the mozzarella cheese.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2541-600.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSlice the mushrooms into thin pieces and arrange these on top of the mozzarella cheese.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2542-600-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSprinkle about 15 or 20 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes on the pizza.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2543-600-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSprinkle another handful of shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the pizza.\u00a0 Again, less is more.\u00a0 Don’t try to cover the entire pizza with cheese.<\/p>\n
Sprinkle about a half a handful of shredded parmesan cheese over the top of the pizza.<\/p>\n
Dab about 20 quarter-to-half teaspoonfulls of Ricotta cheese on top of the pizza.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2544-600.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPlace the pizza in the preheated oven.\u00a0 In our oven, it seems to heat more evenly with the pizza on the bottom rack.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2545-600.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWe bake our pizza for 14 to 15 minutes.\u00a0 This cooks everything through and lightly toasts the cheese.<\/p>\n
Remove the pizza from the oven and allow it to cool for a few minutes.\u00a0 Slice it with a pizza slicer and serve.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2546-600-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt seems like a lot of work, but making a pizza like the one you see above only takes about 30 minutes, and the pizza is outstanding. It goes good with a salad, a glass or red one, or maybe a Peroni.\u00a0 Try it.\u00a0 You can thank me later.<\/p>\n
\nOther ExNotes Recipes<\/strong><\/p>\n
Yep, we’ve got a few, and we’ll have a few more in coming weeks.<\/p>\n
Vegetarian Chili<\/a>
\nItalian Meat Sauce and Lasagne<\/a>
\nNorge Beef Stew<\/a><\/p>\nWe have several recipes planned, too.\u00a0 These include grilled salmon, Italian stuffed shells, bacon-wrapped filet mignon, chile relleno, fish tacos, stuffed orange roughy, and more.<\/p>\n
\nJoin our Facebook ExNotes page<\/a>!<\/p>\n
\nMore good stuff?\u00a0 \u00a0It’s right here:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Cup-O-Joes-6x9-Front-400-x-72.jpg\")
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