Bread dough base:
Pizza usually made from pizza dough. Always use ordinary plain flour. To make standard size pizza, mix 6 oz plain flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp fast-action yeast, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp olive oil together in a large bowl. Quickly stir in lukewarm water and bring together to rough dough. Tip out the mixture onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for five minutes until you have smooth, springy dough. Place in a large greased plastic bag and leave in a warm place for at least one hour or until the dough doubled in size. Now punch the dough to expel air that accumulated.
Tomato sauce:
Every pizza must have tomato sauce as the basis of the topping. Make sure the sauce is well seasoned before adding it to your base, as tasteless base will spoil the taste. To make tomato sauce take a pan and add 1 tbsp olive oil add one small chopped onion and one crushed garlic. Now add 220g chopped red tomatoes and 2 tsp tomato puree. Next add 1/2 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp dried oregano to improve its taste. Salt n pepper according to taste. Stir well, until the mixture becomes thick. Leave to cool before using.
Cheese spread:
The mozzarella cheese is most often spread over the topping of pizza. The best feature of this cheese is its ability to melt and produce strings of cheese when a slice is cut and pulled away. Other cheeses most often found in pizza are cheddar and parmesan. Experiment with different cheeses to enhance the taste.
Topping ingredients:
There are a number of classic ingredients that are regularly use as pizza topping such as olives, bell peppers, tomato slices, mushrooms and dried herbs.
Baking tips:
Traditionally, pizza is cooked in preheated oven at 200c/ gas mark 6 for 18 to 20 minutes or until the crust is golden. It is best to place the dough on a baking tray or pizza pan. Always push up the edge of the dough to form a rim to prevent the topping from spilling over while it cooks.
Serving Pizza:
Pizza should be served as soon as they leave the oven. As the cheese will set slightly and loose its elasticity as it cools down. Crisp and fresh salad, coleslaw, and garlic bread go well with pizzas.
Types of Pizzas:
We usually think of a pizza as being round, but it can be made in many shapes and sizes. It can be rectangle, and long or narrow.
Meat Pizza:
As pizza is baked for a short time in hot oven, the meat should be cooked before it is added to the pizza or it will end up undercooked. You can make meat pizza with chicken, beef mince, or pepperoni. Chicken is the most favourite spread of pizza. To make chicken pizza marinate chicken strips with barbecue masala and bbq sauce for 20 minutes. Now add one tbsp of oil in a fry pan and place - marinated chicken in it. Cook until tender.
For beef spread cook ground beef, bell peppers, onions and garlic in a wok. Blend over medium-high heat until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently.
Spread the meat toppings over tomato sauce and sprinkle cheese or slices of cheese over it. Sprinkle over herbs of your choice.
Vegetable and mince pizza:
Fry one small sliced onion crushed garlic and one tsp cumin seeds gently in the oil for 3 minutes. Increase the heat slightly and add the chicken/beef mince, one sliced eggplant, and salt to taste. Fry for 5 minutes stir and add coriander.
Vegetable pizza:
Fry one small sliced onion in oil for five minutes. Add the spinach and continue to fry until just wilted. Add a pinch of nutmeg. Now spread over the pizza bread and spread two boiled sliced eggs over it.
Half moon pizza:
Give variety to increase the taste of the pizza. For example, rollout the dough into 23cm/9 inches circle on a lightly floured work. Brush the edge of the dough with a beaten egg. On half of the bread spread the tomatoes sauce, scattered the chop tomatoes, shredded chicken, green onion, oregano, and season well. Now sprinkle cheese and fold over the other half of the bread to make half moon. Press the edges together well to prevent the filling from coming out. Place it on baking sheet and brush with beaten egg to glaze. Make a hole on top to allow heat to escape.
Peanut butter Pizza:
Mix together 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 tbsp lime juice, I tbsp soya sauce, one red chili and one crushed garlic in a bowl.
Add 6oz cooked chicken pieces to the peanut butter mixture. Leave to marinate in a cool place for about 20 minutes. Now spread the tomato sauce on pizza dough, topped it with spring onion, and marinated chicken. Sprinkle over the cheese and your favourite topping. Bake it until the crust is golden.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017