Make Homemade Pizza from Scratch

Pizza-- the flatbread goodness made famous from Naples, Italy. They were known for their delicious doughy crust, topped with different flavors of tomato/tomato sauce, fresh garlic and basil, and then with the signature mozzarella cheese. This is in itself a tourist attraction.

 

As time went by, the pizza went beyond Italy and it was made all over the world with different variations. Right now, you can have about any toppings: pepperoni, mushroom, onions, bacon, even chocolate, and many more. Who doesn't love a good old pizza eaten at any time of the day?

 

To make homemade pizza, first off is the dough. This isn't strictly Italian pizza because you can make do of ingredients available in your locality for the toppings. To start the dough, you need to measure a kilogram of flour, 600 ml of water, 2 and a half teaspoons of fresh yeast or 2 teaspoons of dried yeast, then 2 teaspoons of salt. The basic dough components are flour, water, yeast, and salt. However, you can add other variations such as sugar and olive oil. 

 

First, mix most of the 600 ml of water to the flour, then add some of the water to the yeast and mix. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture then mix together. Knead until all the components have come together to form a ball. Then, brush olive oil in a bowl so that it won't stick, and place dough inside to let it rest for an hour or two. Upon checking again, you will see that the dough has inflated in size. Just cut the big dough into two and let rest again for a few minutes. After this, sprinkle some flour on the board so it wouldn't stick, then roll the dough into circles with an approximately 12-inch diameter. Your dough is finished.

 

Next is to transfer the dough into a baking pan or sheet sprinkled with flour. You can brush olive oil on top of the dough. Then, pour tomato sauce in the middle of the dough and start spreading from the center to the sides in a circular motion. Next is to add the toppings. You can start with the basic mozzarella, then basil, and garlic, or you could be more experimental and add available ingredients like onion, bacon, prosciutto, or others to your liking. Pop in the oven to bake until the crust is brown and the cheese has melted.

 

There you have it. Your very own simple homemade pizza especially good while on community quarantine.