Homemade Pizza

Pizza is an oven-baked flat, circular bread. It is normally topped with tomato sauce, cheese and different toppings depending on the ingredients. Do you wonder, where did pizza originate from? The origin of the pizza is in the Neapolitan cuisine, but now it has become famous in all parts of the world. It is the Italian pizzas, which are a favorite all around the world, though the recipes have been modified in different parts of the world. The base of the pizza is referred to as the crust. There are many varieties of the crust as well. It can be thin, hand tossed, thick or pan pizza. In the traditional method, the pizza is normally seasoned with garlic, herbs and topped with cheese, normally mozzarella cheese. Pizzas can be electric oven-baked or baked in the stone brick oven. However, to make pizza at home, we will always make use of the electric oven.

Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe

To make pizza at home, you have the alternative to use the ready-made base, but when you can make the base at home itself would you not rather opt for the option of making the base at home itself. We will now see how to make pizza dough.

Ingredients

• 2¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus a little more for dusting
• ¾ cup warm water
• 1 package active Fresh yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Method

• Heat the water to 105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
• If you do not have honey at home, you can also use sugar instead, but then reduce the quantity to ½ teaspoon, lest the base becomes sweet.
• Take a small mixing bowl and combine honey and yeast with ¼ cup warm water. Continue to stir the mixture, till yeast and honey are well dissolved.
• In another bowl combine salt and the flour together.
• Now add oil to the dough and mix well.
• When the oil is well combined add the yeast and honey mixture.
• Then add the remaining water and knead the dough till soft and well mixed.
• Keep the dough aside for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it on a floured board for 5 to 7 minutes.
• After kneading the dough should be smooth and firm.
• Cover the dough with a damp towel and place it on a warm spot for 30 to 45 minutes.
• After which divide the dough to make four balls.
• Work the balls again and roll the ball on your palm for 2 minutes and keep it aside for 10 to 12 minutes.
• To make the pizza press the ball to make a circle of 7 to 8 inches in diameter.
• Add the toppings and bake the pizza.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Till the pizza dough is rising, we can make the pizza sauce as well, so that we have the authentic pizza, but made at home. You can make the sauce in large quantities and save it for the next time as well. Let's see the pizza sauce recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 1 can tomato paste
• 6 fluid ounces water
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon chili powder
• ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
• Sauté onion in the saucepan, till they are tender and cooked.
• Once the onions are cooked, add tomato paste and water to the onions.
• Then add garlic powder, basil, sugar, oregano, marjoram, cumin, chili powder, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes.
• Reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes on low heat.
• Cover the dough with the sauce, if you want to add any more toppings add them at this stage, else top it with grated mozzarella cheese and bake the pizza for 20 to 25 minutes, till you see the cheese bubbling and the crust becomes golden brown in color.

After reading the recipe to make pizza at home, do you not agree with me, that making pizza at home is indeed easy. If you are allergic to yeast, then you can also make use of pizza dough recipe without yeast to make the dough. You can make the dough and the sauce and bake the pizza, whenever you feel like it as well. You can also make pizza for your lunch box. This will make sure you have homemade healthy food. The recipe to make the dough makes use of all-purpose flour, but you can make use of whole wheat flour as well to make the pizza all the more nutritious.