First Make Pizza Dough
Ingredients :
- 2/3 cup (165ml) of warm water (around 105°F/38°C)
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon of salt
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- A little over 2 cups of flour
Steps :
1- Put hot water in a pan. Add yeast and sugar. Stir lightly and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast activates by turning into a foam on top of the water. Then add the salt and oil.
2- Gradually add in the flour as you stir the mixture simultaneously. You know you have added enough flour when the mixture becomes too thick to stir.
3- Knead the dough. It is ready when it is glossy and tacky, but not sticky; a small amount pinched off can be stretched (by pinching and pulling) thin enough to let light pass through.
. Take the dough out of the bowl and put it on a clean, well-floured surface. A wooden board or clean table is best. Make sure it is at a height where you are comfortable working. If it is very moist or sticky, sprinkle additional flour over the top.
. Gather the dough into a pile and begin pressing it together. Press the heels of your hands firmly into the dough, pushing forward slightly.
. Fold the far edge of the dough upwards, towards you, and press it into the middle of the ball. Rotate it slightly, too. Repeat this press-fold-turn sequence for the duration of the kneading process.
4- Let rise up for up to 1 hour at room temperature or 5 hours in the refrigerator.
5- Place on a floured counter and flour the top of the dough.
6- Cut the dough into two round balls and repeat the following steps for each piece.
7- Pick up the disk of dough, and pinch the dough about 1/2 inch (1.27cm) from the edge. Try and stretch as you pinch, repeat this all around the edge.
8- When the disk of dough has been stretched enough to start to be floppy, proceed to tossing.
. Make a fist and drape the dough over your fist.
. Make a fist of the other hand and slip it under the dough next to your other fist.
. Carefully move your fists apart stretching the dough more.
. Shift your fists (left towards your face, right away) so the dough rotates while stretching.
. When the dough has reached about 8 inches (20cm) in diameter, you can quickly move your left fist in an arc that goes backwards towards your face. Do this while twisting your right fist forward away from your face. If you give a a little push upwards with your right fist the dough will spin like a Frisbee. Practice how it feels to balance the force of the fist twists equally. This will keep the pizza from spinning off into the corner (or worse)
. Be sure to catch the falling, spinning pizza as gently as you can with your two fists to avoid tearing. However, if you notice that the dough is tearing, just start over, and do the spinning process over again.
Tips :
. Make sure your hands are clean!
. Don't use too much flour or the dough will get too dry.
. Place flour on hands to prevent sticking.
. If the dough is too thick, you may need to flatten it with a rolling pin.
. Don't stretch it to much or it will get too thin and it won't bake properly.
Second : Making Pizza Sauce
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoon - Butter
- 16 ounces - Can of tomato puree
- 3 tablespoon - Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon - Salt
- 3 Cloves - Garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon - Black Pepper
- 3 Large - Yellow onions, minced
- 1 teaspoon - Whole oregano
- 2 Canned whole Italian tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon - Whole basil
Prepare the sauce :
Melt the butter with olive oil in an oven or large skillet. Now slowly but completely sauté the garlic and onion. Then add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and puree. Boil it.
Cover the mixture and let it bubble for two hours. In between, stir it occasionally. Crush the tomatoes with the masher. Continue the process till the sauce reaches the consistency of a soup.
Set the sauce aside to cool before applying it to your pizza dough, or, or refrigerate it for use in the future.
Pizza Topping
Ladle about 7 to 8
ounces of pizza sauce into the middle, bottom of the dough shell. Spread the sauce evenly over the surface of the dough sheet. Spoon the sauce out to the edge of the dough sheet. Leave a small margin on the outer-side of the dough sheet, which allows the crust to rise and crisp more quickly than the covered dough; creating the classic, puffed up edge of the pizza.
Now create a layer of the shredded cheese over the sauce. Shred about two cups of cheese. Arrange your toppings over this layer of cheese.
Add toppings according to your preference.
Baking the Pizza
Preheat your oven up-to the temperature of 450° F - 232°C for about 10 to 15 minutes. When preheating is done, place a prepped pizza in the oven at the centre. Place the pan in the oven such as there is maximum circulation of air around the pan. The baking will take about 10-15 minutes at that temperature.
Signs to look for that the pizza is ready are:
1- The cheese has melted on top and is beginning to brown.
2- The crust edge has browned, from a medium to a golden brown.
3- Now carefully lift the edge of the pizza to inspect its bottom, it should be evenly brown.
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