Pizza perfection doesn’t have to just come from a restaurant. Making a great, authentic Italian pizza is surprisingly easy, and will have all your friends saying “Mamma mia!”
Here are our top tips for cooking an amazing pizza in your own kitchen.
- When making the dough, make sure to leave it to rest for at least an hour.
It may feel painful having to wait for your dough to rise before you can start cooking properly, but allowing your dough to prove correctly means that the yeast will create the air bubbles the dough needs to become soft and stretchy. This means that when it’s time to create your base, it will have the elasticity to make that perfectly thin, traditional crust that Italians go crazy for.
- Stretch the dough with your fingers, not a rolling pin.
Using a rolling pin crushes all the air out of the dough, which is why Italians have been using their fingers to stretch their pizza bases for hundreds of years. Push the dough out with your hands and then rotate to keep it even on all sides, making sure the surface underneath is generously floured to prevent sticking. This will ensure your pizza is deliciously light and airy.
- Preheat your oven to maximum temperature.
Whether you have a conventional oven or a specialist Ooni pizza oven, cranking up the heat will produce the best results. Remember, in Italy pizza ovens have an open flame at the back, which cooks the dough quickly and gives the crust that signature char. Plus, any toppings may lose their fresh flavour if left in the heat too long, so the quicker your pizza can cook, the better it will taste!
Want to give it a go? Our Chefs For Foodies pizza kits send you all the fresh ingredients you need to make a fantastic pizza yourself – with a video guide from expert pizza chef Ricardo Arias to show you the traditional Italian methods. From our spicy Diavola to the cool Vegetariana, there’s something for everyone.
Plus, with every pizza kit we’ll send you a free Birra Moretti, so you can polish off your authentic Italian pizza with a traditionally brewed Italian beer. Talk about pizza perfection.
