Pizza from Scratch
Imagine making restaurant style Italian Pizza at home from scratch and serving it to your friends and family. The process might look lengthy and intimidating but in reality, it is really easy to make pizza at home. Once you have mastered the pizza dough and base, the major work is done. From there you can make any pizza with any topping of your choice.
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 3 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 1/3 cups Warm Water (110 degrees F)
- 1 Sachet of Instant Yeast
Toppings
- 3 tbsp Pesto Sauce
- Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (as desired)
- Handful Green Bell pepper (Julienne)
- Handful Red Bell pepper (Julienne)
- Handful Red Onion (Julienne)
- Handful Sliced Mushroom
- Parmigiano Reggiano (as desired)
Pesto Drizzle
- 2 tbsp Melted Salted Butter
- 2 tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Pesto Sauce
Instructions
To make the dough
- Add 1 sachet of yeast to warm water (approx. 110 F) and set it aside for about 3-5 minutes.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, fitted with a dough hook attachment, mix together 3 and 1/3 Cups of All-purpose flour, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil on medium speed.
- Stir the yeast in the water to make sure it is all dissolved and add it to the flour mixture.
- With the speed on medium -high, mix until everything is combined. It should take approx. 8-10 mins.
- Oil a large bowl with olive oil and set it aside. Dust some flour on the counter and using hands do one final knead and fold the dough into a ball. Now place this dough ball (seam side down) in the oiled bowl. Also brush the top of the dough ball with a little oil to prevent it from drying out.
- Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and place the dough in a warm place for at least an hour or until it doubles in size. Inside a microwave or an oven (turned off) works best.
- Once the dough has risen, the pizza dough is basically ready. At this point you can either continue and make the pizza or cut the dough in two and freeze it for later use.
To make Pizza
- To make the pizzas, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.
- Sprinkle some flour onto your counter, take 1 ball of dough and dredge it in the flour on all sides. Using your hands (watch the video for proper instructions) or a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 10 inch circle.
- Gently slide the pizza base onto the pizza stone. (If you don’t have a pizza stone you can use a large baking sheet just place it upside down so there are no edges)
- At this point, you can make any pizza of your choice. To make Pesto Pizza, continue reading.
- First, spread 3 tbsp (or as much as you desire) of Pesto Sauce on the base. Then layer with some shredded mozzarella cheese, followed by juliennes of red onions, green bell peppers, red bell peppers and sliced mushrooms. Grate some real good quality of Parmigiano Reggiano on top.
- Bake it in the oven at 475 F for 20 mins. After 10 mins, you might see some air bubbles popping up. If you see them, pop them using a fork.
- While the pizza is baking, make pesto drizzle. For Pesto drizzle, mix together 2 tbsp Melted Salted Butter, 2 tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil and 1 tsp Pesto Sauce.
- Remove the pizza from the oven after 20 mins or once the pizza is cooked through and glaze it with some pesto drizzle for extra flavor and shine.
- Serve hot and enjoy!