Gourmet pizza recipes you can make at home with just a few simple ingredients

Most Americans find pizza a mouth watering prospect that doesn't require much of a sales job to the family to make pizza tonight's dinner. American pizza shops sell a weighty product, some with a dozen or more toppings, loads of cheese and sauce. Authentic Italian pizzerias go a little lighter on all of the ingredients, subscribing to the less-is-more philosophy, an equally delicious alternative to the American version.

So taken are we with the pizza, along with an element of stiffer competition in the pizza industry, there's now an ongoing trend of shops producing the gourmet pizza recipes. The so-called gourmet pizza takes a page from the new fusion cooking, incorporating unconventional ingredients and sauces that give our palates a quite different taste treat. Today's gourmet pizza recipes seem to have only one thing in common ñ the crust.

That being the case, why not make your own custom gourmet pizza recipe at home, eat exactly what you want and save some money. Pizza crust is easy to make, especially if you have a bread machine. One advantage of making your own pizza crust is that you can add herbs to the dough to complement your topping choices. If you're not into spending the time, just pick one up at the supermarket.

You've probably noticed the new, offbeat combinations that are now becoming standard fare at the chain pizza places. The ham, onions and pineapple chunk combo has merit (although it's hard to get my brain around pineapple on a pizza). The chicken and Alfredo sauce comes a little closer to my idea of a gourmet pizza recipe.

If we're going to call these creations 'gourmet pizza recipes', it seems appropriate to use gourmet style ingredients. Most of us think of gourmet food as being quite costly. However, a pizza requires just small amounts of each ingredient, so if you use a couple of morels or an ounce of Parmesan, it's still an economical entree.

While sweet bell peppers were hardly considered gourmet ingredients just a year ago, they now qualify as gourmet food in my book, when a single bell pepper goes for $2. The up side is that red, yellow, orange and green bell peppers go well on almost any pizza combination. These tasty veggies can also be diced up and frozen in sufficient water to cover, with a tablespoon of lemon juice, stored in a zipper bag.

A large bell pepper yields enough to do three pizzas, so cost is not really an issue. A jar of fire roasted red peppers costs about $3, but a little goes a long way, enough for at least four of your gourmet pizza recipes. A jar of capers runs about $2.50. If you invest just a couple of bucks each time you shop, you'll soon have a nice collection of gourmet ingredients from which to choose as you ponder your next creation.

Many of the more exotic mushroom varieties are only available in dried form, easily re-hydrated in just the amount you need. Dried mushrooms have a 'shelf life' of at least six months, so you'll not have any waste. Fresh white mushrooms can be sliced and flash frozen on a cookie sheet, then stored in a zipper bag in the freezer.

O.K. Let's see how we might improve on the pizza shop's new gourmet fusion style.

How about a combination of salad shrimp, morel mushrooms, diced red Spanish onion, finely sliced green onions and freshly shaved Parmesan, over a base of Alfredo sauce? The extra Parmesan adds additional complexity of flavor to the sauce. Infuse the dough with bits of fresh dill. There you have a colorful, visually appealing and delicious pizza, at very little cost. You also get to amaze friends and family with your creativity and gourmet skills, and that's cool too.

Chicken and capers are one of those matches made in heaven. A thin coating of white sauce, topped with diced chicken, cooked and browned, a sprinkling of capers and a few diced red Spanish onions makes an elegant, colorful and altogether delectable gourmet pizza recipe.

Instead of the usual standard sausage, try using the gourmet chicken sausages at the meat counter. These sausages are often freshly made in house, including unusual seasonings and additions such as apples for a much more interesting taste.

Once you start brainstorming for new and creative gourmet pizza recipes, you'll find that following your instincts usually works well. Pile on ingredients that appeal to you and it's probably going to taste good. Pick up a seasoning guide, or look online. This will help you avoid choosing herbs that do not go with your ingredient mix.

Sooner or later, someone in the household will catch on to the fact that these pizzas are recipes you just made up. Then everyone will be making their own gourmet pizza recipes. You'll still get the accolades for having been the genesis of this excellent fun.