Delicious Homemade Pizza: Easy as Pie!

In this post I’ll walk you through making pizza from scratch. At first it might seem like a long process, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll realize it’s quite simple and fun to do.

What You’ll Need

The ingredients you’ll need for making a pizza are more basic than you might think. All you need is flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water, oil and of course, some toppings.

• 3 cups flour
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1 cup of warm water
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Your favorite sauce
• Some delicious toppings

Making the Dough

Some people might throw all of this into a mixer and skip the long process I’m about to explain, but if you want a truly authentic experience I recommend doing it the way old school pizza makers did it. It’s not really that much more work, and if you are ever caught talking to a hardcore pizza fanatic, you’ll have that much more credibility!

Step 1:  Mix together the flour, salt, and sugar. Place this mixture on a large cutting board, stone countertop, or a wooden table you don’t mind sanitizing beforehand.

Step 2:  Mix the warm water with the yeast and let it set for 5 minutes. Then stir it together (there will probably be instructions on your package of yeast).

Step 3:  Shape the flour mixture into a mountain and then make a hole in the middle with your hand. Your flour mixture should now look like a volcano (“Sweet! Volcanoes are so cool!”… Is what you’ll probably find yourself saying at this point). Once you’re done staring at your masterpiece, move on to Step 4.

Step 4: Pour a bit of the water and yeast into the middle of the volcano and use a fork to slowly incorporate some of the flour with the water. Once the flour becomes too sticky to work with, pour in some of the oil and continue incorporating the flour. Repeat this process until all of the flour and water are used up. If you run out of water and oil, start adding a bit of extra water. Don’t get discouraged; It’ll be worth it in the end.  I SEE YOU!  PUT THAT MIXER AWAY!

Step 5: Once the water is fully mixed with the flour, start kneading your dough until it is fairly smooth, all the lumps are gone and the dough does not stick to your hands. This should take around 10 minutes.

Step 6: Grease a large bowl with olive oil and place the dough inside. Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap or with a moist towel and let the dough rise. This will take around 4 hours if left at room temperature or up to a whole day if placed in the fridge.

Cooking the Pizza

Once your pizza dough has risen, you’re ready to start topping and cooking it. At this point you’re only about 15 minutes away from a deliciously homemade pizza pie!

Step 1:  Cut the dough into large balls.  Each ball will be it’s own pizza.  The recipe above should yield around 2 decently sized pizzas.

Step 2:  Roll the dough out (the thinner the better, in my opinion). This could be accomplished by using a rolling pin, but I would recommend stretching it out in your hands. You could also throw it up in the air, but you probably shouldn’t…

 

Step 3:  Get a large baking sheet, and grease it up with some oil. Place the pizza on the baking sheet ensuring it covers the whole thing. You could leave some extra dough on the edges to form a nice crust.

Step 4: It’s now time to top your pizza. First, pick your favorite sauce and layer it over the dough.  I like making my own sauces (my favorites being pesto and traditional tomato sauce), but any sauce will work. I’ll leave how to make your own sauces for another post. Lastly, cover your pizza with some delicious toppings (A pizza I make often for friends and family is topped with spicy salami, spicy eggplants, black olives, and mozzarella cheese).

Step 5:  You’re now ready to bake your pizza (provided you actually pre-heated the oven…).  When baking a traditional Italian pizza, the hotter the better. I usually cook my pizza at 550 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 7 minutes (although, you could go even hotter). Leave the pizza on the baking sheet for the first 4 – 5 minutes. For the last couple of minutes, you should carefully remove the pizza from the sheet and let it sit directly on the rack. This will ensure a beautiful golden brown crust. I would recommend grabbing the sheet with an oven mitt and using a spatula to gently push the pizza onto the rack. Like I said before, BE CAREFUL!

Your pizza is now ready for you to enjoy! If you are inviting guests to indulge in your new expert pizza making abilities, why not invite them over for the whole process?  Pizza making is not only delicious, but loads of fun and easy as pie (get it?…)!