I want to share with you the homemade pizza secrets I have learned over the years. Whether or not you have a wood-fired oven (I haven’t) or any other contraption, you can make a crispy, delicious and very authentic-tasting pizzeria style pizza at home following a few steps.
Let’s look at them in more detail.
INGREDIENTS
200 gr strong flour
150 gr warm water
5 gr yeast
1 teaspoon salt
Contents
TIPS AND TRICKS
With the ingredients listed you can make 2 or 3 pizzas, depending on the thickness. I prefer my pizza very thin and very crispy.
You could get an electric pizza oven, which I recently discovered at a pizza party organised by Salentina Fridgefreezer Filling Service. Basically this oven is made of two pans, and when you close the lid the upper pan and lower pan heat the raw pizza simultaneously, giving you a total cooking time of 3-4 minutes. Result!
Some home cooks use a baking stone to ensure the bottom of the pizza cooks evenly and forms a crispy crust.
If you, like me, prefer to go all “old school”, try this.
Preparing the Dough
To prepare the dough you need to start at least 6-12 hours in advance to let it rise. Ideally 24 hours rising makes the perfect dough.
Believe it or not, the weather outside can affect the quality of your pizza dough. I wouldn’t recommend kneading pizza dough on a rainy day, because the extra moisture in the air will make the dough stickier, therefore requiring more flour.
The chefs at Salentina told me that you need to get the best quality strong flour, preferably a mix of strong flour and Manitoba flour.
Mix the yeast with a glass of warm water and let it rest for 10 minutes until bubbles start forming.
Add the yeast to the flour, water and salt in a large bowl. Knead until you get an elastic ball, cover with cling film and leave it to rise for 6-24 hours.
Kneading Technique
There’s a kneading technique that really helps to develop the dough: form a globe, basically the shape of a paperweight, and “tuck it in”, ie, using the palms of your hands flat, go all the way around the globe (see what I did there?) tucking the dough downwards. In other words, follow the round shape of the dough using the mental image of brushing your hair: “caress” the dough from the top and tuck it in at the bottom, then rotate it by a quarter spin and tuck in again. Do this for about 3 minutes.
Repeat this process every 1-3 hours. For best results leave the dough to rise for 48 hours.
When the dough is ready, flatten it into a round shape and a 1cm thickness.
Cooking the Pizza
In a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat, place the disc of pizza dough without any oil. Cook for 2 minutes until you see a golden crust forming at the bottom.
Transfer the pan under a very hot grill and cook the bread for about 8 minutes or until you see a golden crust.
Now add your favourite toppings and cook under the grill for another 3 minutes until everything is heated through and the mozzarella is melted, then serve immediately.
Some topping suggestions: with Frankfurter sausage.
Recommended Reading: Strictly Walk Slimmer
Below: electric pizza oven G3 Ferrari.
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