For all you students looking for a fun and delicious activity to do with your friends, look no further. Do-it-yourself pizza night is a great way to spend time with your friends while baking delicious food. I prefer to make pizzas from “scratch.” And by “scratch” I mean buying single serving pizza doughs at Trader Joe’s for only $1.19. These doughs are so cheap and are such a great and easy way to liven up your dinner with friends and roommates.
I’ve had two pizza nights with my roommates, and they’ve been a total hit. We have so much fun rolling out our pizza doughs and throwing our favorite toppings onto our personal pizzas. After they’ve baked to perfection, we always sit ourselves in front of the TV, put on one of our favorite shows, like “The Bachelorette,” and enjoy our delicious pizzas.
Below are two of my favorite pizza recipes. The first is a margherita with mushroom pizza. I’ve always loved margherita pizzas, and when the mushrooms are cooked just right, they make the pizza that much more delicious. The other pizza I love is a pepperoni pizza with sliced jalapeños. The jalapeños add such a nice spice that compliments the pepperoni and makes for a perfect pairing. If neither of these sound appetizing, it’s quick and easy to substitute ingredients to fit your tastes.
Ingredients:

• Trader Joe’s pizza dough
  • You can buy either plain or garlic herb. I like to use plain for the pepperoni and jalapeños and garlic herb for the margherita with mushrooms.
• Trader Joe’s pizza sauce
• Trader Joe’s shredded pizza seasoned Toscano cheese
  • You can find this next to the pizza dough and pizza sauce.
• Fresh marinated mozzarella cheese
• Fresh basil
• Mushrooms
• Pre-sliced pepperoni
• Jalapeños
• Grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Roll out your dough. Adding some flour can help with the stickiness of the dough but is not necessary.
3. Once you have your desired pizza shape, transfer your dough onto a baking sheet and add your pizza sauce onto your dough, leaving some room for the crust.
4. When you have finished putting your toppings on your pizzas, cook them in the oven for 14-16 minutes or until they are fully cooked.

Margherita with mushrooms

1. Cut your mushrooms into thin slices and throw them on the skillet. Sauté them for about 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper.
2. While your mushrooms are cooking, add your mozzarella cheese to your pizza. Place the cheese balls sparingly.
3. Add your mushrooms along with your fresh basil. Tear up your basil leaves and sprinkle them on your dough.
4. Sprinkle on parmesan cheese.

Pepperoni with jalapeños

1. Cover your pizza with the Trader Joe’s Toscano cheese.
2. Place your pepperoni slices.
3. Cut your jalapeños into thin slices and place them near the pepperoni.
4. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over your pizza.