Superior Homemade Pizza Any Time of the Year
I LOVE pizza any old time of the year. Take-out works, but sometimes I want to create my own. What I’ve found is that it's difficult to make pizzeria-style pizzas at home, simply because most of us do not have a wood-fired oven that can reach temperatures of 900 degrees F! But with a few tricks up our sleeve, we can make a very good pizza with the equipment we have. Here’s how:
Make sure the oven is hot. The oven should be at least 425 degrees F (and 500 is even better). The crust has to bake and brown very quickly. A slow oven will not force the moisture out of the crust, and the toppings will make the crust soggy.
Use a pizza stone if you can. The stone will hold extra heat for a fiery hot surface that will start cooking and crisping the crust the second it touches the stone.
When rolling out the crust, dust the pizza pan or work surface with cornmeal for a crisp finish.
As some thin crusts simply cannot hold a lot of toppings, here’s a rule of thumb: For an average 12" pizza, about 1/2 cup of sauce is plenty. A cup of vegetables and meats, and 1 to 1-1/2 cups of cheese will make a good thin crust pizza.
Deep dish pizzas are different. They must bake at a slightly lower temperature for a longer period of time so the pizza bakes evenly throughout.
A homemade crust is better than refrigerated pizza doughs. Those doughs are usually softer and wetter and almost never bake up crisp.
When making your own dough, bread flour produces a superior crust. And be sure to knead (or beat, if the recipe is for a wet dough) the dough for a full 8-10 minutes.
Any doughs are better if you cover and refrigerate them overnight before baking. This is also an excellent way to spread out the work.
Finally, have fun with your toppings. Experiment and listen to your taste buds. And be sure to write down the instructions for your successes.
Knowing my love affair with pizza, a good friend passed me a pizza recipe that I just have to share with you. It’s easy to make and healthy as well. Rita didn’t have a name for it, so I’ve dubbed it SMART PIZZA.
The idea is to take a typical store-bought pizza and healthify it with added veggies, herbs, etc. I always add more cheese because I think store-bought pizzas are legitimately skimpy on the cheese side.
1 23.4 ounce package Di Jorno Harvest Wheat Thin Crispy Crust—Supreme Pizza
4 tablespoons chopped cucumbers
1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
1/4 cup chopped crook neck squash
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Directions:
Add Recipe to Cook'n
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Make sure the oven is hot. The oven should be at least 425 degrees F (and 500 is even better). The crust has to bake and brown very quickly. A slow oven will not force the moisture out of the crust, and the toppings will make the crust soggy.
Use a pizza stone if you can. The stone will hold extra heat for a fiery hot surface that will start cooking and crisping the crust the second it touches the stone.
When rolling out the crust, dust the pizza pan or work surface with cornmeal for a crisp finish.
As some thin crusts simply cannot hold a lot of toppings, here’s a rule of thumb: For an average 12" pizza, about 1/2 cup of sauce is plenty. A cup of vegetables and meats, and 1 to 1-1/2 cups of cheese will make a good thin crust pizza.
Deep dish pizzas are different. They must bake at a slightly lower temperature for a longer period of time so the pizza bakes evenly throughout.
A homemade crust is better than refrigerated pizza doughs. Those doughs are usually softer and wetter and almost never bake up crisp.
When making your own dough, bread flour produces a superior crust. And be sure to knead (or beat, if the recipe is for a wet dough) the dough for a full 8-10 minutes.
Any doughs are better if you cover and refrigerate them overnight before baking. This is also an excellent way to spread out the work.
Finally, have fun with your toppings. Experiment and listen to your taste buds. And be sure to write down the instructions for your successes.
Knowing my love affair with pizza, a good friend passed me a pizza recipe that I just have to share with you. It’s easy to make and healthy as well. Rita didn’t have a name for it, so I’ve dubbed it SMART PIZZA.
The idea is to take a typical store-bought pizza and healthify it with added veggies, herbs, etc. I always add more cheese because I think store-bought pizzas are legitimately skimpy on the cheese side.
Smart Pizza
Ingredients:
1 23.4 ounce package Di Jorno Harvest Wheat Thin Crispy Crust—Supreme Pizza
4 tablespoons chopped cucumbers
1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
1/4 cup chopped crook neck squash
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Directions:
Add above ingredients to top of pizza. Bake as directed on package.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Sources:
- www.syracuselightscapes.com
- www.simplyrecipes.com
- www.finecooking.com
- www.purewow.com
Alice Osborne
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2006
Email the author! alice@dvo.com
