Make Pizza

If you like ordering pizza from your local pizzeria, you'll love making it at home. No pizza will ever taste as fresh as it does when you eat it straight from your own oven. This article gives instructions on how to make hot, fresh pizza the fast way, or from scratch. Scroll to the bottom for a section on popular toppings combinations.

Ingredients

Pizza

  • 1 pizza base
  • Pizza sauce
  • Favourite pizza toppings
  • Grated mozzarella cheese

Pizza from Scratch

  • 1 1/2 cup of warm water
  • 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast
  • 3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour (bread or all-purpose)
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 3 cups of homemade pizza sauce
  • Favorite pizza toppings
  • 4 cups of grated mozzarella cheese
  • Cornmeal
  • 2 teaspoons of salt

Popular Toppings

  • Grated cheese (mozzarella, romano, parmesan, goat cheese or some combination)
  • Sliced pepperoni
  • Chopped onions
  • Green peppers
  • Sausage
  • Bacon or bacon bits
  • Chicken chunks
  • Olives (Black, green, or stuffed)
  • Mushrooms
  • Ground beef
  • Ham pieces
  • Pineapple slices
  • Basil
  • Roasted garlic
  • Barbecue chicken

Steps

Fast Pizza

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit (204°Celsius). The oven should be piping hot before you start cooking the pizza.
  2. Prepare the crust. Remove the unbaked crust from the packaging. Place it on a round or rectangular baking sheet, depending on what you have on hand. Use a pastry brush to spread a thin coating of olive oil over the top of the crust.
  3. Spread pizza sauce on the crust. How much pizza sauce you add is purely a matter of personal preference. If you love a lot of sauce, go ahead and slather it on. If you prefer your pizza on the dry side, spoon a little in the middle and spread it around in a thin layer.
    • If you want to make a white pizza, add a little extra olive oil and skip the pizza sauce.
    • You can make a quick pizza sauce using tomato paste, a can of diced tomatoes, and some spices. Simmer the paste and tomatoes (without draining them first) together over low heat. Add salt, oregano and pepper to taste. Continue simmering until the sauce cooks down to the consistency of pizza sauce.
  4. Add toppings. Layer your favorite toppings over the sauce. Add as many or as few toppings as you want. Put the heavier toppings, like onions, chicken or sausage, on the bottom layer, and add lighter toppings, like spinach leaves or peppers, on the top layer. Continue until your pizza is loaded with the amount of toppings you like.
    • Other than pepperoni and ham which are pre-cooked, meat toppings should always be cooked before you put them on the pizza. They'll get heated when you bake the pizza, but they won't fully cook. If you're using ground beef, sausage, chicken, or another meat, cook it thoroughly in a pan on the stove or in the oven and drain the grease before you add it to your pizza.
    • Remember that if you add too many vegetable toppings, your pizza crust may turn out a little soggy. The water from the vegetables moistens the dough. Limit the amount of spinach and other "watery" vegetables you put on your pizza if you're worried about this happening.
  5. Add the cheese. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the toppings. Layer it on thick if you like it that way, or add a thin layer if you're going for a lighter pizza. Use Cheddar if you like.
  6. Bake the pizza. Place the pizza in the oven and have it bake for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for a few minutes before slicing.

Pizza from Scratch

  1. Proof the yeast. Place the warm water in a large mixing bowl. Pour the yeast onto the water and let it sit until it dissolves. After a few minutes the yeast mixture should begin to bubble.
  2. Add the other dough ingredients. Put the flour, olive oil, and salt in the mixing bowl with the yeast mixture. Use the dough hook attachment on your stand mixture or work by hand to stir the ingredients together until a wet dough forms. Keep mixing the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic.[1]
    • If you're working by hand, the dough will become difficult to stir when it starts to thicken. Put down the spoon and knead the dough until it reaches the right texture.
    • If the dough looks wet after you've been mixing or kneading it for a long time, add some flour to dry it it up a little.
  3. Let the dough rise. Form it into a ball and place it in a clean mixing bowl coated with a little olive oil. Put a dishcloth, some muslin or plastic wrap over the bowl and place it in a warm part of the kitchen. Let the dough sit and rise until it has doubled in size, which should take about 2 hours.
    • You can let the dough rise in the refrigerator instead. This takes about 6 - 8 hours.
    • You can also freeze the dough before it rises and let it rise when you're ready to make pizza.
  4. Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C). Do this well before you're ready to bake the pizza, so the oven has plenty of time to get quite hot. If your oven tends to run cool, turn the temperature up to 450°F (232°C).
    • If you're using a baking stone or pizza stone, place it in the oven so it gets preheated as well.
    • If you're using a baking sheet, place it in the oven at this time.
  5. Form the crusts. Divide the dough into two equal parts and shape them each into balls. On a floured work surface, roll out the first ball of dough into a circular shape, or use your fingers to stretch it out and shape it. If you're feeling ambitious, you could also try tossing the dough to form it into a pizza shape. When you're finished with the first crust, make the second.[2]
  6. Get the crusts ready to bake. Use a pastry brush to spread a thin coating of olive oil over the tops of the crusts.
  7. Top the pizzas. Spread homemade pizza sauce (or sauce from a jar) onto the crusts. Layer on your favorite toppings, making sure not to go overboard or the crusts won't get crisp. Finish by sprinkling on your favorite type of cheese.
  8. Bake the pizzas one at a time. Carefully remove the baking sheet or stone from the oven and sprinkle it with some cornmeal (or reach into the oven to sprinkle it on). Transfer the pizza to the baking stone or sheet, and place it back in the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly. Repeat with the second pizza.
    • If you're using a baking peel, transfer the pizza directly from the peel to the stone in the oven. Baking peels are used by professional pizza bakers along with baking stones. The unbaked pizza is assembled on the peel, then transferred to the stone in the oven.

Popular Toppings Combinations

  1. Classic loaded pizza. This type of pizza has a traditional tomato pizza sauce and is loaded with meat, vegetables and cheese. Each piece is practically a meal in and of itself. You'll need the following ingredients:
    • Sliced mushrooms of any kind
    • Sliced red and green bell peppers
    • Sliced onions
    • Sliced black olives
    • Sliced pepperonis
    • Sausage pieces
    • Diced ham
    • Mozzarella cheese
  2. Vegetarian white pizza. This elegant pizza is a delicious choice for anyone, whether or not you're a meat eater. Since vegetables tend to make the dough moist, skip the tomato sauce and slather the top of the pizza with some extra olive oil before adding the toppings. Choose from these ingredients:
    • Spinach leaves
    • Chopped kale
    • Sliced beets
    • Roasted garlic
    • Green olives
    • Goat cheese
    • Fresh mozzarella slices
  3. Hawaiian pizza. This type of pizza is beloved by some and hated by others because of its strange but interesting ingredients list. If you're a fan of sweet and salty toppings, Hawaiian pizza can't be beat. Gather these ingredients:
    • Pineapple chunks
    • Caramelized onions
    • Grilled ham slices or Canadian bacon slices
    • Mozzarella cheese
  4. Fresh tomato basil pizza. This light, summery pizza topping combination is a great choice when you're looking for something simple. Make it with or without tomato sauce. If you're looking for the real Italian pizza craving, here's the recipe for what Italians call the margherita. Here's what you need:
    • Sliced fresh tomatoes
    • Basil leaves


This step-by-step video shows you how to make pizza dough.

Tips

  • Before you put your pizza in the oven, spray the pan with a bit of olive oil, for a crisper end-result. It also prevents it from sticking to the pan.
  • If the crust and top are burnt before the inside is cooked enough, the temperature is too high. A thicker pizza needs lower temperatures so it cooks long enough to be done inside without burning the outside. You can turn up the heat or even broil the pizza briefly to brown the top, at the end, while eyeing it to avoid burning it.
  • For a more nice crisp top, broil the top of your pizza. Remember, keep an eye on it! Keep it in the broiler for about two minutes. This process will make a nice golden top.
  • Pre-bake the crust a little if you like it more evenly cooked through and done rather than soggy where it meets the sauce, like foccacia pizza.
  • Instead of tomato sauce, you can use spaghetti sauce.
  • You can also add hamburger meat to make ground beef pizza
  • If desired you can make cheese pizza without the sauce and cut it into strips instead of slices to make cheese sticks.
  • If you extend the cheese further out than the tomato sauce and leave little gaps in the watery tomato-sauce layer through which the cheese can bond to the crust, the cheese layer will not slide off en masse so easily.
  • While you are doing the tomato sauce,cut the tomatoes then put them on a pan for two minutes then it will be easier to peel the tomato's out-sides.
  • Try Mascarpone cheese in the tomato sauce.

Warnings

  • Always keep an eye on your pizza, so it doesn't burn.
  • Avoid putting the temperature too high in the oven, if you don't it can cause fires.
  • To avoid burning yourself, use towels or oven mitts when taking your pizza out of the oven.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/bestof/toprecipes/bestpizzarecipes/recipes/food/views/Pizza-Bianca-with-Goat-Cheese-and-Greens-106098
  2. ↑ http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/homemade_pizza/
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