04 Oct Boost Your Homemade Pizza Game with These 5 Best Tricks
Chewy crust and stretchy cheese pizza is one of the most popular comfort foods ever invented. The best part about homemade pizza is that you don’t have to be Italian to get parlor-quality pies. Whatever happens, you can’t actually go wrong with pizza.
In this article, Cheetah chefs share insider pro tips that will help you make pizzeria-worthy pie at home. Get ready, your homemade pizza is about to get a whole lot better.
Make Your Own Dough For a Truly Homemade Pizza
Nothing tastes better than a homemade pizza made from scratch by your own hands. Start by choosing quality flour. Mondako flour, for example, has a consistent mixing time and water absorption that really boosts its leavening process and makes it extra crispy. 00 flour is the Italian pizza flour and is also known as Manitoba flour. It’s rich in gluten and allows the pizza to develop considerably during baking.
Mix together flour, yeast, olive oil and water to make a crispy crust. Be sure to knead it by hand for the best texture. You’ll know it’s ready once the dough is cohesive and firm. Place the dough in an oiled bowl find a warm place for it to sit until ready.
Once it triples in size, roll up your sleeves and get tossing. Pizza experts say this is the best way to get the best crust. But, if we’re honest, it’s just too much fun to miss out on.
Zero Effort Sauce
Even for the laziest homecook, making homemade pizza sauce from scratch should come easy. Tomato paste, olive oil, some mixed herbs and salt should do the trick. If you want to play it safe, get one of these 3 leading tomato sauce brands from Cheetah:
- Pizzaiolo Pizza Sauce: This rich, Italian flavored pizzaiolo sauce is
inspired by Italy’s neighbrohood pizzaioli. A blend of vine-ripened tomatoes, extra-virgin oil, fresh garlic and herbs. - Full Red Pizza Sauce: California tomato sauce base with fresh basil, a hint of pepper and anise to boost the sweet flavor. This sauce is a favorite of many commercial Pizza Shops.
- Bonta Pizza Sauce: This tomato sauce is made with natural tomato solids with less skin and fewer seeds. With only a hint of basil and salt, this is an Italian classic.
You don’t want to drown your homemade pizza with sauce, so don’t use all of it. What to do with all the extra canned tomatoes? Check out these ideas.
If you feel like spicing things up, try one of these other options:
- Pesto
- Salsa
- Ranch dressing
- Ketchup
- Fried beans
- BBQ sauce
- Alfredo sauce
- Stretchy Mozzarella
Stretchy Mozzarella Cheese… Need We Say More?
Mozzarella is the kind of cheese that gives you that savory stretchy strands of cheese that melt off the pizza slice. To get the exact texture you like for your homemade pizza, opt for one of these different mozzarella types:
- Low moisture is what most New York pizzerias use. This type of cheese gives the pizza a salty tangy flavor. The whole-milk low moisture version melts better, while part-skim browns faster.
- Fresh Mozzarella is a soft, bright white cheese. It’s characteristic of the Neapolitan pizza and gives the pizza a fresh, rich flavor, making it taste artisan.
Wood Fire Oven for a Perfect Homemade Pizza
Pizza is traditionally baked in a wood fire oven. Wood ovens cook pizza faster and boost the flavor. They allow the heat to be evenly distributed through the pizza and the smoky flavor makes your homemade pizza taste so much better. Visit Giannini for a quality pizza oven.
Since brick ovens are usually built outdoors, not everyone has them. You can get a very similar effect by using a pizza stone that holds very high temperatures. When you place the pizza on the stone, the crust will start to cook instantly. Just like with a brick oven.
If you don’t have a pizza stone, take a baking sheet and put it upside down on the bottom shelf of your kitchen oven. After the oven heats up, slide the pizza on top of the baking sheet.
Go Easy on the Toppings
The most important tip when it comes to homemade pizza toppings is not to overdo it. If you drown your dough with too much sauce or toppings, you’ll end up eating something more similar to pizza-porridge.
Another thing to remember is that most vegetables aren’t going to get soft and tender after just a few minutes in the oven. If you’re going for something a little more interesting than peppers and onions, you’ll need to Sauté them. This goes for greens like broccoli, spinach, chard tops and so on. Make sure to dry these out before scattering them on your homemade pizza.
Eggplant and zucchini should be salted and drained, then sautéed, roasted or grilled. Most fatty meats also need to be cooked through, unless it’s pepperoni or prosciutto.
Before you get cooking, make sure to order all the ingredients you need to make a delicious homemade pizza from Cheetah.
Buon appetito!
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