The secret of a crisp crust
The main secret - the dough should be baked separately. There is one good reason for this. If you bake it all together, the pizza can be made with digested stuffing, burnt cheese and a half-baked crust. Of course, you can not bake the dough for the first time completely. Otherwise, it will burn, because we still have to put the filling and bake again.
Preparation of the dough
First you need to put in a bowl one-tenth of the warm water indicated in your home pizza recipe. Add the yeast gradually into the water, mix and let stand for several minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, pour out the remaining warm water, cover with sugar, salt and other dry ingredients, except flour. Then add water and a mixture of yeast, mix thoroughly and only then you can put the rest of the ingredients.
It is important to knead the dough correctly
Do it manually! So the dough will be more airy. Only with your hands can you feel the right consistency of the dough. It must be kneaded until it begins to stick to the bowl. When it can be freely stretched, without tearing at the same time - the dough is ready. When the mixer is beaten, the dough becomes brittle. To prevent sticking of the dough to the bowl, flour can be used. However, you need to do this carefully and at the minimum.
Let your dough rise before baking
After kneading the dough, you must let it rise to the desired thickness. As a rule, the more suitable pizza, the better its taste. But be careful: do not use too much yeast!
How to speed up the test
If you are in a hurry, you can allow the test to grow faster by adding yeast or by raising the temperature of the dough. In the latter case, you can put it in a warm oven for a few minutes. Then turn it off, cool a little, leaving the door open. After that, put the dough in a closed dish, put it in the oven and close the door. Let the dough stay in a warm oven for at least 30 minutes, then remove it, "press" the dough down. Repeat the "lift" exercise for another 30 minutes.
Another method that can be used to accelerate the raising of the test is with the help of warm water. The higher the water temperature, the faster the effect of yeast. You just have to be careful that the dough does not ferment.
Frozen dough for pizza
You can cook the dough the day before and put it in the fridge for baking the next day. Just take it out in the morning, and let it go for at least a few hours before you use it. By the way, in this case, much less used yeast is required.
To make a thin crust on the pizza
If you are aiming for a thin crust, you should put less dough on the pan. You can also just stretch the pizza in the pan. By doing this, you naturally reduce the thickness of the crust.
To get a thick pizza
For a thick crust, you need to use a smaller frying pan, put more dough on a frying pan or stretch the dough less.
To get a crisp
For a crispy pizza, it would be better if you reduce the amount of water. More dense dough will then give a crusty crust. Also an important point here is flour. It is better to use flour with a high content of gluten, if you want to get crusty crust.
Fans of a soft and sticky base
To get a soft stretchable base, you need to add more water to the dough or use less flour. For best results, use flour that is low in gluten. You can make the dough without gluten, with the help of flour with gluten.
Pizza filling
The filling depends on the type of pizza you want to cook. Fresh mozzarella cheese is essential if you want to make it in the style of New York. This is usually a minimalist style, when you use a little bit of everything.
On the other hand, for a pizza in the Chicago style, which is prepared in a deep frying pan, many ingredients are added from the meat. Here, both beef and pork sausages, minced meat, bacon, ham, etc. Also in it put sweet pepper, mushrooms, and also various kinds of cheese.
Tomatoes, cheese, anchovies, garlic and herbs such as basil, oregano, are typical of Italian pizza.
Pizza in the style of California, on the other hand, is characterized by seasonal fillings of vegetables and fruits. Also stuffed with chicken, smoked salmon, as well as other unusual fillings.
The filling should be fresh
It is recommended to use fresh ingredients for the filling. Especially fresh mozzarella cheese, if possible. To release the taste of dried herbs, it is better to crush your fingers with fingers before adding.
Drain the water from the filling
To avoid wet pizza, especially if you use a lot of canned food and moist ingredients, you should let drain water out of them. This must be done before using them for cooking.
Pizza sauce
The sauce will give your pizza its own special flavor. There are many easy recipes for pizza sauce. You can also try making your own sauce. A little imagination and improvisation - and the sauce is ready.
Easy recipe for pizza sauce
Add onion and garlic in olive oil, add the tomato sauce (you can tomato paste), salt (with ground pepper, if any). Cook for a few minutes, then add basil and oregano. You can even add balsamic vinegar, if you want. You can also add cooked ground meat directly into the sauce.
It is better to use thick sauce
Too watery sauce will just drain off your pizza. If you use canned sauce, estimate the thickness. If it is thin, then the sauce should be boiled before using it.
The sauce should be at the top of the pizza
When cooking it is desirable to put the sauce on top. This will prevent your cheese and other ingredients from burning.
The main advice, how to cook at home pizza - trust your intuition and do not be afraid to improvise.
Bon Appetit!