There are crust connoisseurs and topping aficionados and endless combinations to please them all. But to really know your pizza, try making it at home. It's easy, it's inexpensive and it's ready in less time than it takes the delivery boy to show up with a lukewarm pie and the wrong change.

Let's start at the bottom: with the crust. These days, supermarkets sell pizza dough and premade crusts in the refrigerator, freezer and bread aisles, ready to be sprinkled with sautéed onions, sliced chicken, pepperoni, whatever you wish, and slid into a hot oven.

Now for the toppings. For some people, pizza isn't pizza without tomato sauce and mozzarella. But there's no real reason to stick to formula. Homemade pizza can be anything you want.

A final note about baking: Some people believe that baking pizza directly on a pizza stone (a large, flat stone tile that preheats with the oven) produces a crisp, evenly browned crust of unparalleled quality.

Others swear by special metal pizza pans full of small perforations on the bottom that let moisture out and make the crust crispy.

Experiment with these options if you'd like, but a regular, nonstick pan will also do the trick.