School Pizza

5 from 8 votes

Sheet Pan School Pizza is an easy and fun way to make a pizza with memories! Simply bake your homemade crust, cover it with sauce, cheese, and your favorite toppings, and enjoy eating your rectangles as you remember.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Rest Time10

Total Time1

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Servings: (4 in. x 4 in.) pieces

Calories: 405kcal

Author: Jennifer Fishkind

Ingredients

Pizza Crust

2¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
2 tsp salt
1⅔-2 cups warm (105°F) water
2½ tbsp granulated sugar
0.25 ounce packet (2½ teaspoons) rapid-rise yeast (also known as instant yeast)
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil divided
2 tbsp yellow cornmeal

Topping

½ pound lean ground beef
½ pound mild Italian sausage
1¾ cup pizza sauce
4 cups freshly shredded mozzarella
1 tsp dried Italian season

Instructions

Pizza Crust

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Coat the entire surface of an 18x13 rimmed baking sheet (also known as a half sheet tray) with 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil then sprinkle the surface with the cornmeal to keep the crust from sticking to the tray once baked. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, add the all-purpose flour, instant nonfat dry milk, salt, granulated sugar, quick-rise yeast and the remaining 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.
With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the warm water to your dry ingredients. Start with the 1 ⅔ cups then you may need to add a tablespoon at a time, but no more than the 2 cups, to get a pourable consistency to your dough. My dough took a tablespoon or so more than the 1 ⅔ but did not take the entire 2 cups.
Continue to mix on low for 2-3 minutes or until you have a smooth, pourable, dough. A few small lumps are fine. It should be the consistency of a thick pancake batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared rimmed baking sheet and gently spread the dough into an even layer that covers the entire surface of the baking sheet. Allow the dough to rest in the pan for 10 minutes.
Bake the pizza crust for 10-12 minutes, or just until starting to get golden, on the lower rack of your oven.
While your pizza crust is baking you can prepare your toppings.

Topping

In a large, 10-inch skillet, over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef and mild Italian sausage for 7-8 minutes or until no pink remains. Be sure to break the meat up as it cooks. (That way it looks more like the topping on school pizzas)
Transfer the cooked meats to a paper towel lined plate and set it aside.
Once the crust has baked for 10-12 minutes, remove from the oven and evenly spread the pizza sauce over the top of the crust.
Sprinkle 2 cups of the shredded mozzarella cheese over the sauce.
Next you will evenly sprinkle the cooked meat topping over the cheese.
Top the meat with the remaining 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese.
Lastly, sprinkle the dried Italian seasoning over the cheese.
Return the pizza to the oven and bake, on the middle oven rack, for an additional 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Carefully slice the pizza into 12 rectangular pieces.

Video

Notes

Storage:

To Store: Store any leftovers in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
To Freeze: You can freeze the pizza for up to 2 months. Let the pizza cool and place the slices in a freezer bag
To Reheat: To reheat, heat in the microwave or in the oven.

Tips:

You can use a 16 oz. jar of your favorite pizza sauce, just make sure not to use a jarred marinara sauce because it will be too watery and will make your pizza crust soggy.
If you do not have rapid rise (also known as instant) yeast, you can substitute it with a packet of active dry yeast instead. This is a standard yeast that can easily be found at your local grocery store in the baking aisle. You will not add the active dry yeast directly to your bowl of dry ingredients, instead, you will add it to your warm water along with the granulated sugar and allow it to sit for 3-4 minutes or until it gets foamy. You will then proceed with the recipe at step 3 for the pizza crust.
To get that authentic look you remember so well from school, spread the sauce almost right to the edge of the crust.
Instant nonfat dry milk powder is used for this recipe because it adds richness, and tenderness, to the pizza crust without adding additional liquid to the recipe. The milk also helps with the browning of the crust. The crust for this recipe is meant to be soft and tender, not chewy like a traditional pizza. The instant nonfat dry milk powder is shelf-stable so you can keep it as a pantry staple when they want to make tender loaves of white sandwich bread, chewy cookies or this pourable pizza crust.

Nutrition