Pizza

Pizza Recipe
Once you get the dough and the sauce right, the rest is open to your imagination; That's just one of the things that makes Pizza Making so much fun!

Equipment and supplies for making pizza
You can usa a Pizza Stone for a crispier more evenly cooked crust. Otherwise a pizza pan, or a cookie sheet will do. A pizza cutter, and a large spoon. A pizza oven, if you are serious about pizza.

Pizza Dough
You can make pizza dough from scratch with this recipe. Or you can find a ball of raw pizza dough in a bag in the refrigerated section of some grocery stores, and raw pizza dough also comes in pie shape. Also you may find pre-baked pizza dough (pie shape) in the bread section.
2 ¼ cups	Flour	Mix these ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.
1 cup	Water
1 Tablespoon	Olive oil
2 teaspoon	Quick-rise yeast
1 teaspoon	Sugar
1 teaspoon	Salt

Kneading
Clean a working surface such as a table, counter top, or cutting board. Dry it with a tea-towel and dry your hands so the flour won't stick. Next get some flour on your hands so the dough won't stick, and sprinkle half a handful of flour on the working surface. Place the dough in the middle of the flour and press it down with the heal of your hand. Now take the part of the dough at the right and fold it over the center and press it down and away with the heal of your hand. Now turn the pizza dough a little, and take the next part from the side and fold it over pressing it down and away. Turn the dough each time, so that through the process it is spinning slowly around. If it starts sticking to your hand or the table, just sprinkle some more flour. After a few minutes of kneading, the pizza dough will be elastic and stretchy.

Rising
Flip it over and form it into a ball by stretching the outside underneath so the surface is tight across the top of the ball. Place the ball of pizza dough back in the bowl and cover lightly with plastic wrap. The wrap must be very loose to allow space for rising. If you want, you can brush a very light coating of olive oil onto the dough to prevent it from drying out, instead of using plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes, and while it rises, you can make the pizza sauce and start it simmering. There are three pizza sauce recipes included below to choose from. After the dough has had 20 minutes or more to rise, you punch it down by kneading it for only half a minute. Then form it into a new ball as before. This time let it rise for 60 minutes (lightly covered in the bowl in a warm place as before). This time while the dough is rising, the sauce continues to simmer, and you can prepare the toppings and cheese that you want. Slice or chop the various toppings and grate the cheese (See the details below.) When the hour is up, stretch the dough out on your pizza pan. Now let it rise for 30 minutes on the pan.

Homemade Pizza Sauce
2 Tablespoons	Olive Oil	Chop the onion and crush the garlic clove. (To crush a garlic clove, place it on a cutting board, and cover it with a spatula. Then a quick bam on top with your fist crushes it. Remember, a clove is one segment, not the whole garlic bulb) If you substitute garlic powder, don't sauté it, just add it with the seasonings. Put the olive oil in a large sauce pan (Not aluminum). Sauté the onions and garlic until they are tender or kind of translucent. Stir in the seasonings and cook another minute. Then mix in the rest of the ingredients, lower the heat, and simmer to cook in the flavour for an hour or two, while stirring occasionally. Use ½ cup of the pizza sauce on this pizza. You can freeze the extra sauce in bags, 1/2 cup of pizza sauce in each bag for 1 pizza each. Wait for the dough to finish the final rise on the pan, and then use a large spoon to spread the pizza sauce over the pizza.
1 small	Onion (chopped)
1 clove	Garlic (crushed)
or ½ teaspoon	Garlic powder
1 teaspoon	Parsley
¼ teaspoon	Rosemary
¼ teaspoon	Celery Seeds
1 teaspoon	Basil
1 teaspoon	Oregano
½ teaspoon	Salt
¼ teaspoon	Black Pepper
1 teaspoon	Lemon Juice
28oz. can	Crushed Tomatoes
1 teaspoon	Sugar

Basic Pizza Sauce
1 clove	Garlic (crushed)	Mix all ingredients in a large sauce pan (Not aluminum). When it starts to boil, lower the heat, and simmer away some of the liquid while cooking in the flavour for half an hour or one hour, while stirring occasionally. It will be reduced in volume and thickened up. You can freeze the extra sauce.
1 teaspoon	Basil
1 teaspoon	Oregano
½ teaspoon	Salt
¼ teaspoon	Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons	Tomato Paste
28oz. can	Crushed Tomatoes
1 teaspoon	Sugar

Easy Pizza Sauce
½ cup	Pasta Sauce	Adding some oregano to bottled or canned pasta sauce makes a tasty pizza sauce.
1 teaspoon	Oregano

Pizza Toppings

1/3 cup

Pepperoni

Use any toppings you wish. Here are some traditional toppings that you may like to try. Most meats on pizza need to be cooked first. Grilling is best to drain off some of the fat. Of course that is already taken care of with precooked meats such as pepperoni. After the sauce, place the meat, if any, on next. Then garnish with the vegetables & spices.

½ cup

Chicken bits

1/3 cup

Ground beef

1/3 cup

Sausage (grilled with casing removed)

¼ cup

Bacon

¼ cup

Ham

Eggs (hard boiled slices)

¼ cup

Salami

to taste

Shrimp

to taste

Clams

1 can

Salmon

1 can

Tuna

1/3 cup

Fish

1 can

Sardines split in half

1 can

Anchovies unrolled

to taste

Squid

to taste

Crab meat

1/3 cup

Bell pepper

to taste

Jalapeno peppers

1/3 cup

Tomato slices

¼ cup

Sun dried tomatoes

¼ cup

Eggplant (grilled)

¼ cup

Zucchini (grilled)

to taste

Artichokes

to taste

Asparagus

1 Tablespoon

Capers

2 Tablespoons

Lettuce (fresh chopped)

2 Tablespoons

Spinach (fresh chopped)

1 Tablespoon

Parsley (fresh chopped)

1 Tablespoon

Basil (fresh chopped)

1 Tablespoon

Oregano

¼ cup

Onion

2 cloves

Garlic, crushed

¼ cup

Mushroom slices

¼ cup

Olives

1/3 cup

Pineapple chunks

¼ cup

Pickles sliced

to taste

Truffles

Pizza Cheese
1 cup	Mozzarella cheese	Cheese for pizza may be shredded, grated, or ground up with a meat grinder. It is usually sprinkled last over the top of the other toppings. Sometimes it is put between layers of dough, or between the sauce and the other toppings. Warning: Never use processed cheese slices on a pizza.
1 cup	Or Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup	Or Cheddar cheese
1 cup	Or Feta cheese
¼ cup	Swiss cheese	After the main cheese, you can add any of these cheeses for a bit of zippy flavor.
¼ cup	Parmesan cheese
¼ cup	Gouda
¼ cup	Blue cheese
¼ cup	Goat cheese
¼ cup	Cream cheese

Baking Pizza
The oven must be pre-heated at least 5 minutes. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 20 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Just lift the edge of the pizza with a metal spatula to see if the bottom is cooked.

Classic Pizzas

Pepperoni:	Pepperoni, Mozzarella
Deluxe:	Pepperoni, Green Peppers, Mushrooms, Mozzarella
Hawaiian:	Ham, Pineapple, Mozzarella
Chicago:	Sausage, Pepperoni, Ham, Mushrooms, Onions, Peppers, Black Olives, Mozzarella
Greek:	Tomato, Spinach, Olives, Feta

Favorite Restaurant for Pizza
Dante's Italian Restaurant Toronto, Ontario, Canada

More Pizza Recipes
Here is a simple, easy pizza recipe. Rice crust pizza recipe. Campfire pizza recipe.

More Pizza Info
The history of pizza. Starting a pizza business.

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Copyright © 2005 Zirgo Corp. All Rights Reserved. This document may not be used for commercial gain without written permission from the publisher. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this web page, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.