CNET makes pizza!

With frozen pizza hard to come by, we put it to the staff to show off their pizza-making chops. Here are the results, all of which (except mine) look utterly amazing.

This lovely West Coast tableau comes courtesy of Senior Reporter Stephen Shankland:

"Our homemade pizza with sourdough crust (yes too much sourdough cast-off) and Impossible Foods sausage, because my wife works for Impossible Foods. Also, my dad's margarita recipe.

"The dog ate two slices while we weren't looking."

Associate Producer and new How To Do It All host Julie Snyder put together this Mediterranean pizza from scratch. Just look at the basil and the big globs of baked mozzarella.

"Mine had mozzarella, Brussels sprouts, pancetta, extra-virgin olive oil and an egg," boasts Senior Editor Brian Bennett.

I want to wear it like an edible sun hat.

Andrew Hoyle, our lead editor for the UK, made two pizzas this weekend (those gorgeous rounds of dough in the first shot were his). This one has roast bell pepper, courgette (aka zucchini), red onion and salami. 

Andy's second pizza? That's right. Ham and pineapple. "BECAUSE IT'S DELICIOUS YOU GUYS," bellows Andy. I agree 100%, my friend. 

"I'd call my crust technique 'rustic,'" says smart home and appliances Associate Editor Molly Price. "It's filled with sauteed mushrooms and green peppers, spinach, mozzarella and Italian sausage. Topped with home-mixed tomato sauce and grated parm."   

"Just mozz and ricotta. Pretty happy with the bake," says Roadshow Editor in Chief Tim Stevens.

"We're not super adventurous nor are we culinary experts," says Senior Reporter Maggie Reardon. "So it's just plain cheese pizzas with store-bought pizza dough for my kiddos. I managed to snag some premade pizza dough at the store a couple of weeks ago and froze it. I've been defrosting as needed. We made personal pizzas for lunch today. My 5-year-old has 'Pizza Mondays' at his preschool, so we're trying to keep the tradition going at home."

CNET's Editor in Chief Connie Guglielmo made a rectangular vegetable (no cheese) pizza with rosemary dough using the Instant Pot proofing method we outlined last week. It's really easy. 

This second pizza from our EiC uses plain dough for a delectable margherita. Connie did what I should have done when I tried making pizza: "Pizza stone in the oven, cranked up very hot."

Senior News Editor Natalie Weinstein shares the recipe for this pizza, which she says she makes "pretty much every night."

1 Flatout pizza crust
Canned pizza sauce
Canned artichokes, chopped
Canned roasted peppers, chopped
1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese
Fresh basil, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the crust for 3 minutes. Add the toppings. Bake for 5 minutes. Eat!

Laura Cucullu, our senior editor for features and programming, describes her cast iron pizza thusly:

"Cast-iron skillet deep dish: black olives, kale, red/yellow peppers, italian sausage and a creamery's worth of cheese. 

"I stopped using my pizza stone when I learned the cast-iron trick, I find it crisps up better and you can just as easily do thin crust as well. (Plus, you know, Southern. Anything I can cook in my Nina's cast iron, I will.) 

"This is the recipe that got me started way back when. Store-bought dough works just fine."

Senior Photographer James Martin shares this olive-speckled delight with no additional comment, likely because the picture speaks for itself.

Software and apps Staff Writer Shelby Brown reports, "Our first attempt at homemade pizza ever! Came out a bit smaller than we expected, but it was still REALLY yummy."

Do you have a sourdough starter lying around? Of course you do. We all do. 

"I just use my bread recipe for the dough, and it works great! Sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms and roasted cauliflower," says Staff Reporter Laura Hautala. 

Staff Reporter Erin Carson submitted this textbook homemade pizza. Red sauce, mozzarella, olives, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and pepperoni. A nice crispy-looking crust on there, too. 

Don't let the lack of a pizza stone stop you from making delicious pizza, especially if you own a waffle iron. Smart home Senior Editor Ry Crist used his recent waffle maker round-up as an excuse to experiment. 

"Stupid easy, just fold crescent roll dough over cheese and your toppings of choice and toss in the waffle maker for a few minutes," says Ry. "The Pillsbury crusts cook amazingly well in a waffle iron (and, pizza aside, you could fill them with any thing you like)."

Always with a unique angle, Editor at Large Scott Stein says, "I didn't do pizza: I did focaccia. Kids loved it just the same. Flour, oil, yeast, Parmesan, herbs, tomatoes. Took about an hour and a half for the whole thing." 

"I couldn't find yeast anywhere in London," says Senior Copy Editor Sarah McDermott, "but I did make pasta and sauce for the first time and I don't feel like enough people have told me I did a good job yet." Sarah, you did a great job.

Tim Stevens, a man of many talents, made these from his leftover pizza dough.

Listen. When you're assigned to cook pizza for a story, and you've never made pizza before and you only have one packet of yeast, this is what happens. "This pizza looks like it was made by a child," said one commenter in our story about how to make pizza dough in an Instant Pot. 

Thanks, friend.

I don't bake much, but I am a decent cook. The pickled onions on top of that undercooked flap of dough? I made them. They're fantastic. Here's the recipe. Put them on anything and enjoy.