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Ever wondered what the best way to make pizza dough at home is? Well, now’s your chance to try and get it right. It can be very difficult to get a pizza right at home.
If you don’t have a wood fire pizza oven and a yeast culture that’s been in the family for generations the results are so often disappointing. However, help is at hand, here are some chefs’ top tips for making the best pizza at home.
Quality of flour
Don’t scrimp on the flour. When you’re choosing in the supermarket, choose a quality brand, organic if possible and from an artisanal producer. Stay away from the mass-produced, generic white flour and look for something better, it will make all the difference.
Use left-over pizza dough
Always keep a piece of left-over pizza dough so when you’re making a new batch you can working it into the new dough. This is an expert tip that comes from some of the best pizza makers in Italy.
Knead and knead again
After kneading your dough and letting it rise in the fridge, take it out and work it again for another 10 minutes. The more times you rework the dough the more often you’ll reactivate the yeast and the better, lighter and more airy your base will be.
Cast-iron skillet
Home ovens don’t reach the high temperatures needed that wood fire pizza ovens do, so many people use a pizza stone. However, if you don’t have one of these a cast iron skillet is the next best thing as it creates a high temperature underneath, ensures even, crispy bases.
Start-up Culture
You can make your own yeast very easily. You just need to keep feeding it to make it grow.
Caramelize those tomatoes
For the tomato base on your pizza, use Italian tinned plum tomatoes. Drain off the liquid with a sieve and cook the tomato pulp in a pan with some olive oil. When the tomatoes are caramelized, add the juice, reduce and simmer. Don’t underestimate the importance of tomatoes in your pizza.
Use the right cheese
There’s a mozzarella made especially for pizza and that’s what you should be using for yours. There’s less water in it so it doesn’t make you’re pizza soggy and it holds its shape a lot better when baking.
Classic is fantastic
Don’t over-do the toppings, the Italian classic combinations are classic for a reason.
Pizza in Teglia by Vito Iacopelli
This video by Italian chef Iacopelli was made especially for those on lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. This is a Neapolitan-style pan pizza, light and fluffy.
Franco Pepe's Pizza
This 2013 video shows Franco Pepe, reputed to be the best pizziaolo in the world, sharing his secrets for making pizza dough at his famed Pepe in Grani, in Caiazzo, Caserta.
Gordon Ramsay Keeps it Simple
You don’t usually associate Gordon Ramsay with pizza, but his recipe and method here are pretty good. He keeps the recipe simple and cooks the pizza in a cast-iron skillet before transferring to the oven.
Jamie Oliver Goes Italian
Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo appears on Jamie Oliver’s channel to share his classic margarita recipe from the island of Gozo near Malta.
New York-style pizza with The Old Gray Lady
Anthony Falco from Roberta’s Pizzeria in Brooklyn, uses a pizza stone for this thin-based style pizza. It cooks in four minutes and the results are pretty good by the looks of it.
