Pizza Tastic

There's a reason Pizza is one of the most popular dishes in the USA. This humble dish of Italian origin is said to have first been devised by peasants in Naples. An easy, inexpensive, filling and portable meal, Pizza's popularity has grown and grown - with variations far removed from the traditional flavors of Italy - with flavors like barbeque chicken or Avocado and black bean fast gaining popularity.

Unusual toppings are all well and good, but the bulk of the dish is made up of the base. If that's not got a lot going on, then no amount of toppings is going to improve it. You can buy pre-made pizza bases almost anywhere now, but they're not a patch on the results you can get from home baking your own - it's as easy as pie (actually, easier!). Here's how to get it right:

Measure your ingredients by weight rather than volume - it's a more precise way to measure and reduces the risk of getting it wrong.

Some people swear by using a Pizza Stone, basically a heavy weight brick to bake your pizza on. As most Pizza dough recipes will instruct you, you've got to preheat the stone in the oven (at a super hot 500d F!) which then starts cooking the crust as soon as you place it on the stone, creating the perfect crisp base. Pizza stones are also a great way to cook your favorite bread recipes; they crisp up all kinds of types of breads perfectly.

Lots of recipes for baking pizza at home suggest chilling your dough in the refrigerator of even freezing it - this is a great idea as it stops the dough from rising too much. Once you've done that step, make sure you remove it from the fridge or freezer in good time. The dough needs to rest at room temperature at about 30 minutes to loose some of its 'springiness'. If after that time it's still springing back when you try to shape it, let it rest for 15 minutes more. This lets the gluten in the dough relax making it easier to work with

Stretching out that dough can be tricky; we've all seen those pizzeria pros throwing their pizza dough in the air to shape it. Even for the baking mad pizza dough can be tricky to shape, and we can't all aspire to those kinds of tricks. You can gently use your fingers or the backs of your hands to shape and stretch the dough out to your desired thickness and shape. Some people even roll it out using a rolling pin, which tends to give a very uniform result.

Toppings

Yes, the base is important, but we can't leave without discussing toppings. Here's where you get to jazz up your home baking recipes for pizza. Whether you're a traditionalist or love trying new things, here are some ideas for you:

Classic Margherita: This is the original pizza, and some purists say the ONLY way to have your pizza. A simple mixture of crushed tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, mozzarella and basil - all used quite sparingly to as not to outshine your delicious stone baked crust.

Stuffed Crust: A staple of those pizza delivery companies that seem to cater to people that want their cheese served with more cheese. It's easy to replicate at home: Make you're pizza as usual, but before adding your topping, place string-cheese sticks along the edge and fold the dough over. Brush the stuffed crust with olive oil and sprinkle with dried oregano.

Honey: No, that's not a typo, I did say honey. This is a popular garnish with the Brooklyn 'foodie' crowd. One artisan pizza restaurant in Brooklyn called Roberta's serves 'bee sting' pizza, toppings include: tomatoes, mozzarella, soppressata (a type of Italian salami), and yes, honey

Indian inspired: This is a popular one in the UK. The ever popular tandoori chicken works well. For vegetarians saag paneer (a spinach and cheese mixture) makes an excellent as a sauce or topping.

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