More Tips to Making Pizza at Home (Part II)
Whenever the craving strikes, perhaps it’s time to take your pizza obsession up a notch and make it right at home! Generally, it’s not too expensive, it doesn’t take too much time, and there aren’t too many ingredients to deal with. Pizza is versatile – there is no limit to the kinds of creations you can make with delicious sauce, toppings, and cheese combinations. With some imagination, the possibilities of making pizza at home are endless. What’s more fun than that?
A Great Dough Makes a Great Crust
First, making pizza at home requires a great dough – otherwise, you might end up eating pancakes. Luckily, the dough is relatively easy to make – all you need is some flour, yeast, salt, and warm water. That’s it! The most common pizza dough is made of all-purpose flour, but some swear by bread flour. While it takes a little more work, gluten-free dough is available now as well.
Once you mix all the ingredients, knead the dough by hand for approximately ten minutes. When finished, place your dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a wet, warm towel. Some recipes suggest letting the dough ball sit and rise for a half-hour to two hours. Others say to let the dough set in the refrigerator for eight to twenty-four hours. Refrigerating the dough slows down the yeast’s fermentation and breaks down starches in the flour.
Finally, remove your dough from the refrigerator and allow it to reach room temperature before preparing it for the toppings.
Make Pizza, Cook Pizza, Eat Pizza
Now comes the fun part! When your dough reaches room temperature, stretch it out by hand – don’t roll it with a rolling pin – and toss it into the air, continuing to stretch it. Tossing the dough, rather than rolling it, will break up the glutens and produce a better texture. After that, it’s time to prepare your pie for baking. Follow along with the next 3 steps below:
1. Prepare the oven
Professional pizza ovens heat up to around 850 degrees, but if your home oven doesn’t go that high, crank it up as hot as it can go. You can also pre-heat a pizza stone or baking steel to cook your pie on.
2. Add toppings, any toppings
The secret to making a pizza that you really enjoy is to choose toppings you love. Sure, a smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers pizza or a beer-battered fried calamari pizza might not be traditional, but the world is your oyster when it comes to toppings.
So, add your sauce (preferably homemade) and whatever toppings you choose. Pop it into your preheated – very hot – oven, and voila! Dinner is served.
3. Eat pizza
The work is over, the pizza is cooked, and it’s time to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Be proud of your first pizza and start planning for your next.
Follow the Recipe, But Don’t Follow the Rules
When first making pizza at home, it is important to find a good dough recipe and follow it to the letter. After that, you’re on your own to experiment at your will.
There is also the option of picking up a take-home Pizza Kit from Spizzico for just $10 at our Arnold location. The kit comes with one topping of your choice and it’s easy to assemble. Of course, you are still making pizza at home, but we do all of the hard work for you!
Also, if you wish to order our handcrafted pizza, pasta, or other entrees from our menu, just give Spizzico Italian Kitchen a call. We’ll have it ready in no time.