Buzz
If you’re someone who enjoys ordering pizza from restaurants, you’ll definitely fall in love with making pizza at home. A pizza freshly baked right in your own kitchen is always the tastiest. This article will guide you through the process of making a delicious, hot pizza in two ways: the easy method using a pre-made pizza crust, and from scratch with all the steps. Additionally, the final section offers tips on popular pizza topping combinations.
Ingredients
Making pizza the easy way
- 1 store-bought pizza crust
- Yeast
- Pizza sauce
- Your favorite pizza toppings
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
Making pizza from scratch
- 1.5 cups (350ml) warm water
- 1 packet or 2 and ¼ teaspoons dry yeast
- - 4 cups (830 - 950ml) flour (bread flour or all-purpose flour)
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) olive oil
- 3 cups (710ml) homemade pizza sauce
- Your favorite pizza toppings
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons salt
Common toppings for your pizza
- Shredded cheese (mozzarella, romano, parmesan, goat cheese, or a combination of these)
- Sliced pepperoni
- Diced onions
- Green bell peppers
- Sausages
- Sliced or diced bacon
- Chunks of chicken
- Olives (black, green, or stuffed)
- Mushrooms
- Ground beef
- Sliced ham
- Sliced pineapple
- Thyme
- Roasted garlic
- Grilled chicken
Steps
Making pizza the convenient way
Preheat the oven to 260°C. Your oven must be hot before you begin baking the pizza; otherwise, the crust will lack crispness and the toppings will be overcooked.
Prepare the pizza base. Remove the pre-made pizza base from its packaging. Place it on a round or rectangular baking sheet, depending on what you have available. Use a pastry brush to spread a thin layer of olive oil over the pizza base.
Spread the pizza sauce on the base. The amount of sauce you use in this step depends on your preference. If you enjoy a saucy pizza, feel free to generously spread the sauce over the base. On the other hand, if you prefer a drier pizza, add just a small amount of sauce in the center to create a thin layer.
- If you prefer white pizza, increase the olive oil and skip the pizza sauce.
- You can make a simple pizza sauce by using concentrated tomato sauce, a can of diced tomatoes, and a few seasonings. Simmer the sauce and tomatoes (no need to strain them first) over low heat. Add salt, oregano, and pepper to taste. Continue cooking until the sauce reaches a pizza-like consistency.
Add the toppings. Simply arrange your favorite toppings on top of the sauce. Feel free to adjust the amount of toppings to suit your taste. Place heavier ingredients like onions, chicken, or sausages at the bottom, and lighter ingredients like spinach or peppers at the top. Keep adding toppings until you’re satisfied with your pizza.
- For pre-cooked meats like pepperoni or ham, you can add them directly to the pizza. However, for raw meats such as ground beef, sausages, chicken, or other meats, cook them on the stove or in the oven and drain excess fat before adding them to the pizza.
- Note that adding too many vegetables can make the pizza crust soft. The moisture in the vegetables increases the dough’s moisture content. If you want to avoid this, reduce the amount of water-heavy vegetables like spinach, and ensure any pre-cooked vegetables are prepared properly to enhance crunch and reduce bitterness.
Add the cheese. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the pizza. Add a thick layer if you prefer a cheesier pizza, or just a small amount if you prefer a lighter version. You can also use cheddar cheese if you like; research shows that combining both creates a browner, stretchier cheese layer.
Bake the pizza. Place the pizza in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted. Remove the pizza from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before slicing it.
Making pizza from scratch
Activate the yeast. Pour warm water into a large bowl. Add the yeast to the water and let it sit until the yeast has fully dissolved. After a few minutes, the mixture will start to bubble.
Add the ingredients for the dough. Add the flour, olive oil, and salt to the bowl with the yeast mixture. Use a dough hook on a stand mixer or your hands to mix the ingredients until you form a wet dough. Continue mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- If mixing by hand, it will be challenging when the dough starts to thicken. Put down your spoon and knead the dough until it reaches the right consistency.
- If the dough seems too wet after mixing or kneading for a while, you can add a little more flour to reduce the dough's moisture.
Let the dough rise. Shape the dough into a round ball and place it in a clean bowl that has been lightly oiled with olive oil. Cover the bowl with a cloth, muslin, or plastic wrap and set it on the kitchen counter. Leave the dough to rise until it has doubled in size, which usually takes about 30 minutes.
- You can also proof the dough in the fridge. This will take about 24 hours.
- Alternatively, you can freeze the dough ahead of time and thaw it for use when you're ready to make pizza.
Preheat the oven to 230°C. Make sure the oven reaches this temperature before you bake the pizza.
- If you're using a pizza stone or baking stone, place it in the oven to heat up.
- If you're using a baking sheet, insert it into the oven at this time.
Prepare the pizza dough base. Divide the dough into two equal portions and roll one portion into a round ball. On a surface dusted with flour, roll the dough into a circle, or stretch it by hand to shape it. If you're feeling adventurous, you can even try tossing the dough to form the pizza base. Once you've completed the first base, repeat with the remaining dough.
Prepare the pizza base before baking. Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the surface of the pizza dough base with olive oil.
Top the pizza. Spread homemade pizza sauce (or store-bought sauce) over the dough. Next, add your favorite toppings, but avoid overloading the pizza as it can cause the crust to lose its crispiness. Finish by sprinkling your preferred cheese on top.
Bake each pizza individually. Carefully remove the baking sheet or pizza stone from the oven and sprinkle some cornmeal on it (or directly onto the baking sheet inside the oven). Place the pizza on the sheet or stone and return it to the oven. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the crust turns golden brown and the cheese bubbles up. Repeat with the remaining pizza.
- If using a pizza peel, transfer the pizza from the peel to the preheated pizza stone in the oven. Pizza peels and stones are used by professional pizza makers. Before baking, the pizza is placed on the peel to be slid into the oven onto the stone.
How to combine popular pizza toppings
Traditional pizza. This classic pizza is topped with traditional tomato pizza sauce, meats, vegetables, and cheese. Each pizza serves as a complete meal. The following ingredients are needed:
- Sliced mushrooms (optional)
- Sliced red and green bell peppers
- Sliced onions
- Sliced black olives
- Sliced pepperoni
- Sliced sausage
- Diced ham
- Mozzarella cheese
Vegetarian white pizza. Eggplant pizza is a delicious choice for everyone, whether you're vegetarian or not. Since vegetables can make the dough too wet, there's no need for tomato sauce—just brush a little olive oil over the pizza base before adding the other ingredients. Use the following toppings:
- Spinach
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Chopped kale
- Artichoke hearts
- Arugula
- Broccoli
- Sliced beets
- Roasted garlic
- Roasted tomatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Pesto sauce
- Onions
- Mushrooms
- Green olives
- Goat cheese
- Garlic
- Chickpea sauce
- Fresh mozzarella slices
- Fresh thyme
- Roasted eggplant
Hawaiian pizza. This pizza is a polarizing favorite, loved by some and disliked by others due to its unique combination of savory and sweet flavors. If you're a fan of the sweet and salty flavor combination, nothing beats a Hawaiian pizza. The ingredients you'll need are:
- Cubed pineapple
- Caramelized onions
- Sliced ham or Canadian bacon
- Mozzarella cheese
Western basil pizza with fresh tomatoes. A pizza that embodies the flavors of summer, without any greasy aftertaste, is a perfect choice when you're craving something light and simple. You can choose to add tomato sauce or leave it out. If you want a pizza packed with authentic Italian flavor, this recipe is for what Italians call margherita pizza. Here's what you'll need to make it:
- A few fresh tomatoes, sliced
- Fresh basil leaves
Advice
- Before placing your pizza in the oven, remember to lightly spray some olive oil on the baking tray to ensure a crisp crust. This also prevents the pizza from sticking to the tray.
- Experiment with different ingredients. Try using pre-cooked ground beef as a lighter alternative to sausages; substitute store-bought spaghetti sauce for pizza sauce; or stir a bit of Mascarpone cheese into the tomato sauce.
- You could also try an alternative cooking method. For example, bake the pizza in a cast-iron skillet on a gas or charcoal grill.
- Pre-bake the pizza crust if you want it to cook evenly and become crisp, rather than soft in areas where the sauce is applied, as seen with focaccia pizza.
- Make a cheese pizza without sauce and cut it into long strips rather than slices for a delicious cheese stick treat.
- If you sprinkle cheese on top of the tomato sauce but don't spread the sauce all the way to the edge of the crust, the cheese may spill over the edge but won't easily drip off.
- If the pizza crust and surface burn before the toppings cook through, it likely means the oven is too hot. Thick pizzas need to be baked at a lower temperature to cook thoroughly without burning the outer crust. Before taking the pizza out, you can increase the oven temperature or even switch to the top heating setting for a brief period, keeping a close eye to prevent burning.
- Once you know how to make pizza, you've pretty much mastered the skills needed for making stromboli as well.
Warning
- To avoid burns, use a towel or oven mitts when removing the pizza from the oven.
- Always keep a close eye on the pizza to ensure it doesn't burn.
