Italiano at Home! The Authentic Pizza!

Hello from EL the Cook!  Today we show you how to make that authentic delight from Naples, Italy. The Pizza!

A pizza, is a baked flat-bread, topped with cheese and tomato sauce. It is complimented with a layer of vegetables, meat and condiments .

Today we'll explore how to make pizza from scratch! There is nothing like an authentic pizza, and once you eat which looks like the one above, you wont bother going to one of these fast food chains like Pizza-Hut or Dominos.

Heres what you'll need

INGREDIENTS:

A] Dough(Makes 3 pizza bases):

• 500 g white bread flour,for a crispier crust, however all-purpose flour will also do.
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
•  7 g dried yeast sachets
• 1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 350 ml lukewarm water

B] Tomato Sauce:

• 4 Large Tomatoes pureed
• 2 Red Onions, finely chopped
• 2 green chilies, slit
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup 
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

C] Pizza Topping:

• 10 fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup button mushrooms
• 1 red and green bell pepper
• 1 cup fresh broccoli
• Meat of your choice

KITCHEN EQUIPMENT:

• A clean kitchen counter-top
• Rolling pin
• Microwave oven/ Standard oven
• Large bowl
• Cheese grater
• Dough scraper
• Plastic Wrap

METHOD:

A] Dough:

• Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast and salt on your kitchen counter top.
• Add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil and beat until the dough forms into a ball.
•  If the dough is sticky, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a solid ball. 
• If the dough is too dry, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time. 
• Scrape the dough and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball.
  
• Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm area to let it double in size, about 1 hour. 
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cover each with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes

B] Tomato Sauce:

• Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the skillet and place 2 cloves of minced garlic and the sliced chili. Leave this on high heat for 5 minutes, to make the fresh chili & burnt garlic oil.
• Add in the chopped onion and the sugar. Caramelize the onion well as this gives color to your sauce
• Add in the pureed tomatoes and leave to simmer for 5 minutes
• Add the vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato ketchup and a teaspoon of thyme flakes
• Now, leave to simmer for 30 minutes. Do NOT make up volume with water.

C] Final Assembly:

•  Roll out the balls of dough into a thin base
• Add the tomato paste
• Simply top with the garnish of your choice
• Bake in the oven at 250 C for 10 minutes
• Eat HOT!

These are the ones we did at home! 

Mushroom Broccoli Pizza

Pizza Margarita

Bon Apetit!