How to prepare the best homemade pizza
Are you guys hungry? I'm hungry too! Should we have pizza? Well, not just any pizza. Let's prepare the best homemade pizza recipe together! Here's how to prepare homemade pizza.
Pizza dough: preparing the first part of your homemade culinary journey
Pizza preparation begins with the dough. Several options are available. Skilled chefs prefer to prepare their own dough ball. This is done with only a few ingredients: warm water, purpose flour, instant yeast, salt, sugar and that's it! But, if you're like me, you prefer to take shortcuts. Grocery stores sell ready-made pizza dough balls. These are either frozen or refrigerated in the fresh produce department. Fresh produce is my favourite. If you choose this option, place the pizza dough in a lightly oiled dish (so the dough ball will not stick to the surface) and seal the opening of the dish with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise a little until it reaches room temperature. This will make it more malleable. You can also buy a special pizza yeast mixture (made with instant yeast) if you prefer to make your own dough, with a pizza dough recipe. A stand mixer is a perfect tool to knead that kind of dough. Think about setting aside some extra time to make your dough ball rise in a warm place, in a large bowl.
To make your own homemade pizza sauce or not to make your own homemade pizza sauce? That is the question
Now to the sauce. Once again, shortcuts exist. I like to use Mikes Pizza Sauce. It is loaded with flavour and spreads perfectly on pizza dough. But you can also break out your pots and pans and prepare it yourself. If you take this route, start by chopping an onion. Next, fry it in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Once the onion is translucent, place the contents of a can of crushed tomatoes in a saucepan with the onion and two or three thinly sliced cloves of garlic. If you like to have plenty of sauce on your pizza, you can add a prepared tomato sauce can. Finally, add your favourite spice mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for about 10 minutes. When it’s done, feel free to add a few fresh basil leaves. Allow to cool and blend the mixture using a hand mixer.
Toppings over here, toppings over there. For homemade pizza, even pineapple is fair
The choice of topping is entirely up to you. Deli meats such as salami and prosciutto are delicious on pizza. If you're a vegetable lover, go wild! Most vegetables don't need to be cooked before placing the pizza in the oven, with the possible exception of broccoli. Take care not to overload your pizza with vegetables, since this could affect how well it cooks. They must be thinly sliced, so they don’t slow the cooking of your pizza. Now, if you'll allow me to settle the debate that has been raging on forever: yes, pineapple and pizza go well together. As a matter of fact, you can add any ingredient to your menu. That's one of the advantages of homemade pizza.
Since a homemade pizza can't do without cheese
What cheese should I put on my pizza? Let me see... We can mix all kinds of cheeses without any problem. But semi-firm cheeses are ideal. Without a doubt, the best cheese to grill comes from a brick of mozzarella. Cheddar, Emmental and Gruyère are other tasty choices. The selection of cheese depends largely on the balance between the filling and the sauce. A mushroom-emmental mixture is great. A prosciutto, fig and fresh mozzarella option is also good. You can also create your own cheese blend. For a medium pizza, add at least ½ cup of grated cheese.
Baking homemade pizza
Baking... The final step before the feast can begin. Preheat the oven to 500°F (it's hot, but it's going to be good). Place the rack in the center of the oven. Take out a baking sheet and cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil - a pizza pan can also be used, but this previous method is very efficient. Sprinkle it with fine corn flour. In addition, it is always a good idea to use a pizza stone instead of a baking tray. To do this, simply preheat it in the oven before baking to obtain a beautiful crust. Then take the tempered pizza dough out of its dish and sprinkle a little flour on it (this makes it less sticky when handling it). Use a rolling pin to spread it on a floured work surface to the desired thickness, neither too thin nor too thick. Then place it on your hob and brush it with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Take your delicious homemade or Mikes sauce and cover your dough. Continue the preparation with your filling and, finally, your cheese. There, it's ready! Bake for 15 minutes (30 minutes is way too much), turning the sheet halfway through cooking.
Going beyond homemade pizza
Pizzas are a hit with everyone. Tasty and easy to prepare, they can be used with any sauce. Literally. But there are some things better than homemade pizza: Mikes pizza. If you want to indulge yourself without ending up under a cloud of flour, visit our restaurants. We will be delighted to serve you the best pizza in town.