How to make Italian pizza at home
Pizza is one of the symbolic dishes of Italian cuisine, loved by everyone and that has made Italy famous in the world. The real Italian pizza is the round one, with the soft and thin dough in the center and with the edge, often cooked in a wood-fired oven. The legend tells that, in 1889, Queen Margherita di Savoia appreciated it so much that the pizza maker who had prepared it for her, Raffaele Esposito, decided to rename it with her name. In our recipe we will explain in an easy way how to make pizza: from the dough to the final preparation: in this case with the instructions for cooking it in the oven at home. You can make the classic one (margherita or marinara), as suggested in the recipe, or garnish it with the ingredients you like best. Then let’s discover how to make Italian pizza at home as in a pizzeria, to prepare a delicious dinner to be enjoyed with your friends.
Instructions:
Pour the water at room temperature in a large container, add the salt, 85 grams of flour and stir. (1) Then add the yeast and let it melt completely, continuing to mix with your hands. Gradually pour the rest of the flour (2) and knead until a smooth and homogeneous mixture is obtained: it will take about 15-20 minutes. (3) Cover with a clean cloth and let it rise for at least 8 hours.
After the necessary time, from the dough make the pasta discs to be filled. Roll out the loaves with your hands from the center towards the edges, evenly, add the seasoning you chose and cook in a preheated oven at 220 ° -250 ° for about 25 minutes. Your pizza is ready to be served.
Italian pizza: the right tips and advice
1. Prepare the dough in the morning to ensure that, in addition to leavening, maturation takes place: in this phase the sugars will be split and the pizza will be lighter and more digestible.
2. Knead the dough vigorously and, if it should be too hard, add a little water, if instead it is too sticky add another bit of flour.
3. Let the dough of the pizza rise well covered and warm and protected from air currents: it will be ready when it has doubled its volume. To shorten the rising times, you can add a teaspoon of sugar to the dough: it will help to speed it up.
4. Roll out the dough only with your hands, without using a rolling pin. The pizza discs should be 1/2 centimeter maximum. For each loaf, use a 36 cm pan.
5. As for the condiment, the tomato sauce must be thick, but not too much, and it should be spread thinly from the center towards the edge. The mozzarella cheese must be sliced and dried to prevent the pizza base from getting too wet: you can use the kitchen paper to dry it. Remember then that for cooking in the electric oven the mozzarella cheese should be added 5 minutes before removing the pizza from the oven. Use only extra-virgin olive oil as seasoning.
6. If you love homemade pizza, you can make a different condiment every time, even according to the seasons, perhaps adding mushrooms in autumn, or make it white with stracchino and crumbled sausage, or with raw ham, rocket and Parmesan cheese flakes. The combinations are really many, to prepare a different pizza every time and always tasty.
7. To prevent the pizza from drying during cooking, you can place a baking dish with water on the bottom of the oven: in this way the base will remain soft.
8. Accompany the pizza with a beer or a light white wine to enhance its taste.
