Homemade Pizza Dough
The homemade pizza crust is easy to make well as long as you start it a few hours in advance. Dissolve one packet of yeast (and optionally a teaspoon or so of sugar) in about a half cup of warm water and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it looks foamy. In the meantime, put flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Bread flour will give a chewier final texture and a higher rise than all-purpose flour. When the yeast is ready, mix it into the flour, and add water a little at a time until the dough all holds together. Put flour on your hands and sprinkle it on the dough, then knead it a few times on a clean, floured surface until it has a smooth surface and slightly elastic consistency. Rub olive oil over the outside of the lump of dough and put it back in the mixing bowl. And on https://www.foodieandtours.com/best-omelette-pans/ you will get the pans equipment for your recipe.
Letting Your Homemade Pizza Dough Rise
Cover the pizza dough with a damp cloth and leave it in a warm place for an hour or two, then punch it down to get all the bubbles out and leave it to rise for another hour or two. The beauty of this process is that it only takes about ten minutes of actual effort, and will make a delicious homemade pizza crust.
How to Shape a Homemade Pizza Crust
We’ve all seen (or at least heard of) pizza tossing. Some maintain that tossing your pizza dough will make a better gourmet pizza crust, and with a little practice you may find that it’s lots of fun and easier than you thought. Luckily for the rest of us, you can make a perfectly good gourmet pizza crust without getting too fancy. Form your homemade pizza dough into balls, one per pizza, by breaking off a lump of pizza dough and folding it over on itself until the surface is smooth. You may have to add a sprinkle of flour to keep it from sticking. Place it on a floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin, or simply smash it with your hands then stretch it out evenly to the edges of a pan or pizza stone. Gourmet pizza can be made in a small and irregular shape; far from making it worse, it can enhance the unique hand-made look and feel of the final product.
Baking a Homemade Gourmet Pizza Crust
The time and temperature depend on the size and thickness of your pizza. Bake at 350 degrees for your first attempt, and modify it as necessary for future pizzas. The edges of the crust should be golden brown and the center cooked through when it’s done. A pizza stone distributes heat evenly and allows for a much better crust than a regular baking pan. In baking a homemade gourmet pizza, it is also a good idea to bake the crust on its own for a few minutes before adding the sauce and toppings to stop the raw pizza dough from absorbing too much liquid and staying soggy and raw. Rubbing a drizzle of olive oil around the edge, outside the sauce and cheese, can keep your crust more tender and supple and add a subtle gourmet flavor to your homemade pizza.
