Easy 5 Cheese Pizza Recipe with Homemade Easy Crust and Sauce - Kids Cook Monday

What kid doesn't like cheese pizza? Heck, with enough cheese, preferably different kinds, I bet we can find just as many adults who would also wolf down a loaded cheese pizza. While cheese pizza is the basic building block for many great pizzas with meats, vegetables, and even fruit toppings, a good cheese pizza has its own place without all the extras.

Add an easy, tasty crust, along with homemade sauce almost as easy as opening up a can, and we have a cheese pizza much tastier than any cardboard pizza we might pick up at the local pizza place.

Not sure about that? Read on!

For this pizza, I decided to use five different cheeses. I evaluated them on flavor, texture, and meltability. (I know that meltability probably is not a word, but you know what I mean!) I came up with five of my favorites.

1) Mozzarella--What pizza is complete without the traditional Mozzarella cheese? In this recipe, I used twice as much of this melty cheese than I did of each of the other four cheeses.

2) Swiss--I absolutely love Swiss cheese, so I had to include it. It melts fairly well and adds a great flavor if not used in too large a combination.

3) Parmesan--This is another good choice for an Italian dish. Don't you just love it when the waiter or waitress in an Italian restaurant comes out with that rotary cheese grater and a wedge of fresh Parmesan? I bought a wedge of this cheese and grated it myself. Freshly grated Parmesan tastes so much better than the powdery grated stuff in the plastic container that you buy and sprinkle.

4) Romano--This is another Italian cheese with great flavor. It has a nice tangy taste to it, so don't use too much of it. No cheese should overpower the flavor of another in this pizza--unless you want it to!

5) Asiago--This cheese is used more with Mexican dishes. It has an addictive flavor, at least for me. I bought a wedge of this one too, and the flavor nearly knocked my socks off. I had bought shredded Asiago in a tub before but never a fresh wedge. It wowed me so completely. It wasn't too strong of a flavor; it was just so delicious that it was hard to stop sampling it.

Those are my five cheeses. You could choose others. Cheddar or Monterey Jack, probably more common in your refrigerator, lend their own unique flavors. Provolone is fairly mild and melts well. I love Feta, but I'm not sure how kids feel about its flavor, which could be defined as a bit funky. I have used Feta, but I recommend using a small amount since the flavor can be overpowering.

The fun thing about this recipe is that you can pick and choose your cheeses to fit your tastes. Even Velveeta processed cheese spread would work!

Any crust will work, so just choose your favorite or whatever is easy. This time I made a quick crazy crust pizza from my supreme pizza recipe. It requires no kneading and no pre-cooking. The sauce is spread right on top. Then the toppings are added.

I also made an easy sauce out of a can of tomato sauce and some spices. However, for purposes of quick and easy, a pre-made pizza sauce works just fine.

Everybody in the family can help prepare this pizza. The kids can mix up the pizza dough or spread it out onto the pan if bought pre-made. A child of any age can spread the sauce onto the crust.

Older children can help grate the cheese; just watch scraping those knuckles on the grater if doing by hand! Any set of hands--or many--can sprinkle the cheese on top of the sauce.

This pizza is really that easy. This is a simple, amazingly tasty cheese pizza, and I didn't even add garlic! I am a garlic lover, but not everyone is as fond of it as I am. If you and your clan like garlic, add a crushed clove or two in your sauce. If you don't have fresh garlic, add a teaspoon of garlic salt.

I'm actually thinking about adding even more cheese next time.