About twice a month, we make pizza at home. We usually make 2 pizzas since there are usually a few teenagers around, but one of them is always a Garlic Shrimp Pizza as that is their favorite!
This isn’t a true pizza because it does not have the classic tomato sauce base, but it is a good one. Especially if you love garlic and shrimp.
A word about dough – I usually make my own pizza dough as noted in the recipe below. Pizza dough tastes better if it is made a few days in advance and allowed to sit in the refrigerator. You could even make it the weekend prior and use it during the week. And if you are feeding only one or two people, you could use half one night and half another night. We use pizza dough to make pizzas, cheesy bread sticks, and cinnamon sticks just like the pizza stores offer. These are just so much better homemade.
Two of my kids work in a pizza parlor that uses fresh dough, and the owners have taken to giving me some of their dough to make my own pizzas at home. It is marvelous. One of my friends, Laura, gets fresh pizza dough from Sam’s and says it is good, too.
So don’t be scared off from making fresh pizza at home because you are afraid of the dough. There are options.
Baking the pizza at home – I included basic at home baking instructions using a metal pan, and that works well. I have a pizza stone and have evolved a way of baking pizzas that more closely resembles a pizza oven product. If you roll out your dough onto a piece of parchment paper, then put that on top of an inverted sheet pan, layer on your toppings, and very carefully pull it onto your pre-heated stone, it will bake very nicely. You will be able to pull the edges of the parchment paper to take it off the stone, too.
A word about cheese – I use freshly grated cheese. It just melts better. The recipe calls for Mozzarella and Parmesan, but we live in the St. Louis area and have access to a product that is popular here called Provel cheese. This is a white processed cheese that is a mixture of Cheddar, Swiss, and provolone. My kids love it, and we use this, too.
Here is the dough, rolled on a piece of parchment paper with the garlic butter sauce spread all over it.
Here is the shrimp layered over the sauce. I actually used my homemade Cayenne pepper flakes on this pizza, but my original recipe calls for Cayenne pepper. Cayenne pepper is the secret ingredient – just be careful not to add too much!
A word about the shrimp – I usually use those small bags of precooked, salad shrimp, but have also used the larger precooked shrimp, and it is good, too.
We usually add way too much cheese and it bubbles off the edge and all over the bottom of the oven, but it is soooo good.
The baked Garlic Shrimp Pizza – smells and tastes amazing. The leftovers are good, too.
Yummy!
Garlic Shrimp Pizza Serves 2 to 4 Ingredients: Prepare your favorite pizza dough recipe.  I usually make the Basic Pizza Dough recipe from Joy of Cooking.  It makes enough dough for two pizzas, which is perfect for our family.  This recipe makes one pizza. Preheat oven to 475° (or according to your pizza dough recipe instructions). Press pizza dough into your favorite pizza pan (we use a rectangular cookie sheet, giving us a lot of edge—we love the edges).  Make sure to leave a ridge around the edge to contain the garlic sauce. While dough is resting, sauté minced garlic in the olive oil and butter.  Do not overcook the garlic.  The goal is to infuse the butter and olive oil with the garlic flavor.  After the butter melts, it should only take 2 to 3 minutes. While garlic is sautéing, rinse and dry thawed shrimp (or defrost quickly according to package directions if you forgot to take the shrimp out ahead of time). Spread the garlic butter sauce onto the pizza crust and ensure that the garlic is evenly distributed all over the crust.  I use a pastry brush. Top with the shrimp, ensuring that it is evenly distributed all over the crust. Dust with cayenne pepper (the secret ingredient of this pizza) according to taste (a little does go a long way so don’t overdo it). Top with grated mozzarella or Italian cheeses of choice (I often use Provel cheese or whatever is left in the fridge, a little extra cheese never hurts). Top with Parmesan cheese (love the nutty flavor that it adds to this pizza). Bake according to your pizza dough recipe instructions.  My recipe takes 12 to 15 minutes.  If cooking at a high heat on a pizza stone, it will take less time. You want the dough completely baked and the top to be bubbly and slightly brown.
1 whole Pizza Dough For One Pizza
6 cloves Garlic, More Or Less To Taste, Minced
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil, Plus A Little Extra
3 Tablespoons Butter
8 ounces, weight Cooked Salad Shrimp
2 teaspoons Cayenne Pepper, More Or Less To Taste
2 cups Grated Mozzarella
¼ cups Parmesan Cheese
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