Beautiful and impressive! Watch this pizza come to life as it's baked. Delicious!
If you like your pizza crust with an extra crunch, you can pre-bake it without toppings (or only tomato sauce) for about 5 minutes in the preheated oven.
If you plan on topping your pizza with a lot of fatty meats or juicy vegetables, brushing on a thin layer of olive oil base can help with containing the moisture during baking.
Raw or fatty meats aren’t going to get fully cooked from a few minutes atop a pizza in the oven. Always pre-cook and drain vegetables that release water while cooking, such as mushrooms.
Exceptions: thin cut pepperoni and prosciutto and some thinly sliced vegetables are fine to top raw.
Use the dough right out of the refrigerator and don’t let it sit on the countertop for too long.
Unroll and keep dough on parchment paper while baking. Paper is oven safe up to 500°F and paper will brown during baking. Cut off or tuck excess paper under the dough, so it isn’t hanging over the baking sheet.
Cutting the dough: If you need to cut the dough, place it on a cutting board to avoid scratching your baking sheet or countertop. If cutting the dough on the baking sheet, ideally use a pizza cutter.
To unroll the dough, remove dough from package and gently separate the dough and parchment paper from the roll, so that the dough on paper begins to lay flat. Be careful not to separate the dough from the parchment paper. There may be some sticking, but the dough and paper should easily pull away from the roll.
Once the dough is lying flat on the baking tray, cut off or tuck any excess paper under, so it does not hang over the edge.
The fastest way to a crispy and chewy crust is cooking the dough directly on a heated surface. Make sure the oven is fully preheated and already hot. A pizza stone or even a simple sheet pan needs ample time to pre-heat. Pizza and Flatbread can also be cooked on a non-heated sheet pan, but always in a pre-heated oven.
You can brush the dough edges with olive oil. Do it right before it goes in the oven and/or right after it comes out. You'll get great color, crunch and flavor.
1. Place pizza stone in oven (if using) and preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Heat a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat and add 1 Tbsp. olive oil. When hot, add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to brown. Quickly add crushed tomatoes and salt (before garlic turns brown) and cook, stirring frequently, until sauce begins to simmer. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Unroll refrigerated Bistro Pizza Dough onto a baking sheet or place on a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal (if using pizza stone).
4. Top dough with sauce and 1 Tbsp. of the parsley, then bake the dough for 6 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and top with mussels, shrimp, and bay scallops. Return to the oven for 5 minutes (this will be enough time for the shrimp and scallops to cook and the mussels to open. If mussels have not opened, leave pizza in oven for another minute or two).
5. Remove pizza from oven and top with remaining parsley, drizzle with olive oil, and serve.
6. Recipe Tip: When cleaning mussels, throw away any that are opened. If barnacles appear on mussel, scrub with a scrubbing brush. Otherwise, rinse well to remove all sand and grit. Any “beard” must be removed—this happens by grabbing the hair between your index finger and thumb and pulling firmly while holding the mussel in the other hand. Should remove with a firm pull. Finish washing and place aside. Mussels should be used the day they are bought, and must be stored in refrigerated conditions, preferably on a bed of ice.