Introduction: Make a Pizza
I like to make my own pizza, I can use the ingredients that I like, and none that I dont like. Pizza is sort of like an open faced hot sandwich, virtually any ingredients that are good in a hot open faced sandwich, will also be good on pizza. You can use any kind of sauce you like, most folks only use a tomato based sauce, but any sauce that you like will work. I often like BBQ sauce, strangely enough, I dont like BBQ sauce on BBQ, but I do like it on pizza.
If you want to make a pizza with apple sauce and peach slices, with cheddar cheese, you should do that.
The video shows how to make a pizza, if you have a your dough all ready, but the rest of the ingredients are prepared during the video. If you are in a hurry, you could make it faster than I do, but expect about 15 to 20 minutes to make a whole pizza from scratch(ish).
This pizza doesnt have meat on it, but if I do put meat on it, usually I cook the meat while I roll out the dough. The meat cools while the dough rises a little bit, and it only takes a few minutes longer. Cooking time takes about 20 minutes, but that varies depending on how many ingredients you add. If its real thick, it can take a few minutes longer, if its just cheese, it may be ready a couple minutes earlier. I like 20 minutes at 420 degrees as a base time.
Ingredients:
1 or 2 lb of pizza dough, you can make one two pound ball from 2 one pound balls for a large pizza.
Flour (I like corn meal flour), you need less than a tablespoon.
Sauce 1-2 cups usually (I like BBQ, and marinara), use what you like.
Toppings (I like mushrooms, sliced thin), other folks like things cubed, or large chunks)
Cheese Mozzarella, is most common, about half a pound for a single pizza, a pound for a large one.
I also like to add grated hard cheese, like parmesan, or romano, and sometimee even grated garlic for a zesty pizza. I also add spices, like black pepper, oregano, and basil are some of my favorites.
A pizza stone or plate makes things easier, I put a very light coat of oil on it to prevent sticking, just a little bit is best. Some folks can spin the dough, but I find rolling it to be easier, I think the larger diameter pin will be easier than smaller, but any will do, and Ive even heard of people using wine bottles when they couldnt find a rolling pin.
Rolling the dough is probably the most difficult part for most folks, but if you kneed the dough, and stretch it, like you see me doing in the video,the dough will be more cooperative when rolling. When stretching the dough to fit the pan, use one hand to hold the dough in the middle, or it will tend to get too think in the middle, and too thick around the perimeter.
I find a large wide spoon is the easiest to spread the sauce evenly, but it may not matter all that much .
I like thin sliced toppings usually, but sometimes I make thicker chunky sized toppings for variety. You can put just about anything on a pizza, but I find that keeping to to under 4 ingredients is best.
I almost always grate the cheese, but you could also slice or dice the cheese, they all work.
Baking time varies a little bit, most folks want a crust that is crispy, and they want the cheese melted. I use 420 degrees, place the pizza at the bottom of the oven (low rack), and 20 minutes or so for the average pizza, that time can go as much as 5 minutes longer, if you make a large pizza, and or more toppings.
Cooling, it needs to cool at least 5 minutes, it can be the hardest part. Sometimes I wait to add spices or hard cheese after its baked.
Cutting is easiest with a large pizza wheel, but if you dont have one, a big knife will do it.
In the second video, you can see me make two different pizzas, in two minutes, thanks to time lapse photography.