Everybody loves pizza, the rich sauce, melted cheese and crispy crust, that all add to what everyone enjoys. Although ordering pizza from a restaurant is lovely, at the end of the day, you can replicate that very restaurant quality and flavour in the ease of your own home. A pizza can be made up of hundreds of different ingredients, and as long as you use the correct ingredients and correct procedure then you will achieve a home made pizza just as delicious as an out of the box one.

Right Ingredients.

The ingredients that you use, have very importance, so the freshest of ingredients must be of the highest quality in order to achieve a good quality pizza. Pizza only has few ingredients that you must use. Therefore each ingredient used is extremely important as they give flavor.

The Flour.

The flour used is what actually makes the crust of the pizza, thus this is why you need a high quality flour which will ensure the pizza will be nice and chewable, in my recipes I use bread flour, since this is a high protein flour, which also gives an extra kick to the taste, alternatively, you can use plain flour, for your home made pizza’s.

Yeast and Propper fermentation

Yeast is most important when making a pizza, the longer that your pizza dough is left to stand for, the more it will rise, this will then be a nicer taste of pizza with a well risen dough. Your pizza dough can be left in the bowl for many hours, so it may develop a better taste, so it is able to create restaurant style crusts.

Pizza Sauce.

The best pizza sauce you will ever have is chopped tomatoes, salt and olive oil; you can also add fresh herbs but this still tastes just as great, compared to buying a highly artificial processed one, where the amount of sugar added is ridiculous.

Cheese

I use Mozzarella, as this is the perfect type of cheese, when creating the starchy and melted toppings; you can either use standard or fresh mozzarella, to achieve that restaurant flavor of melted cheesy topping.

Fresh toppings

Old ingredients used on your pizza are never as tasty as fresh ones, so make sure that you use fresh ingredients to create your desired topping.

Restaurant quality pizza dough at home.

The one recipe that I found to be one of the simplest, when creating home made pizza was that of the pizza dough recipe itself. At the start you may think that this is not a simple one, after reading a very long list to produce a perfect pizza dough, it is, quite simply, very easy.

Mix the dough

Place the flour, yeast and salt into a bowl and slowly add the water, with a dash of olive oil. Add all of your ingredients into a bowl and combine, until you have a soft pizza dough. Knead for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic.Let’s let the pizza dough rise!

Place the pizza dough into a bowl, coat the bottom with oil and then cover the bowl with a damp cloth, leaving the pizza dough to rise in a warm place, until the ball of dough is double in size. When this occurs you are left with air pockets throughout the dough, creating a fluffy and crispy pizza base.

Cold fermentation

A lot of pizza restaurants leave the pizza dough to rest in a fridge, and can keep the dough overnight; it really does have a better flavor for your home made pizza.

Making a professional style base

Do not roll your pizza dough out with a rolling pin; instead try and stretch your pizza base from the centre outwards, and be sure to not pull it too thinly, so that you are left with the pizza base as if from a restaurant, the one you desire. If it’s a little tough, simply rest it for a few minutes.

How to get a crispy crust

Many homemade pizzas simply get the crust wrong; this is because you are not using enough heat or heat your pizza oven to the maximum heat allowed in your kitchen. At least 240-260 degrees Celcius is recommended if you have this temperature oven, place your pizza stone or steel in at this point as the stone or steel will heat up and help you get that golden crispy base to your pizza. This is key, because if there is too much sauce or topping it can result in the pizza base becoming quite soggy.

How to put the toppings onto the pizza

Place the thin layer of sauce on the pizza base, then an even layer of cheese on top and then finish with the other toppings. Lastly place a few herbs and a sprinkle of oil on your pizza just after you take it out of the oven, this will really finish your pizza off nicely.

Cook the pizza.

Place your pizza onto a hot stone or baking tray and place into your oven to bake for between 10-15 minutes depending on the type of pizza and the oven. When the cheese is bubbly and golden brown the pizza is ready, and you can now sprinkle some garlic butter or olive oil over the crust for extra flavor.

Home made restaurant style pizzas people enjoy creating at home.

• Margherita
• Veggie
• Paneer Tikka
• BBQ Chicken
• Tips for home made pizza.
• Use as fresh of ingredients as you possible can.
• Let your pizza dough stand and rise on its own.
• Ensure your oven is at a high temperature.
• Do not add to much sauce to the base of your pizza.
• Have fun with designing your cheese and herbs!
• Practice will ensure that your home made pizza becomes excellent.

Conclusion.

Producing a home made pizza that has the quality of a restaurant is one of the most rewarding things you can do. You have the ability to have complete control over the appearance, taste and general presentation of your home made pizza, all the while it is almost just as good, if not better, than an out of the box pizza. Whatever flavor you decided to use; whether it’s the classic Margherita, or if it’s paneer Tikka pizza; it is completely possible to create the best home made pizzas you have ever experienced, as all you need is high quality ingredients.