Homemade Pizza

Pizza is one of those classic foods that everyone seems to be able to recognize. Whether it's served at a birthday or picked up from a pizza shop, a cheesy pizza is a fan favorite for many ages. I have made a few homemade pizzas before with premade pizza dough and even flatbreads, but never with yeast before. Using yeast in baking always seemed like a challenging endeavor, something only the bakery professionals and pizzerias could master. Taking the time to actually learn about yeast and gather the right ingredients led me to take on the pizza challenge. This pizza recipe is actually pretty simple and takes more time resting than working, allowing you to make it ahead and save for later.

The first step to making the pizza is activating the yeast; the microscopic single cells that produce the light and spongey texture of many breads and pastries. Working with yeast can sometimes be finicky, and the smell of the yeast doesn't please my senses too much. Understanding what makes yeast work is important to troubleshoot and work around problems. Keep your dry yeast in a cool, dry place, or even in the freezer to have it last for a long time. You don't want to accidentally activate your yeast and have it all ruined. The first step to the pizza dough is blooming the yeast; getting the yeast active from its freeze-dried state in the package. Heat up some water until it is warm to the touch, but not too hot. A common problem I faced was warming the water too much, which will kill the yeast by heating it up too fast. With the water at a warm temperature, sprinkle in the yeast and some sugar to provide food to the yeast. It might not seem like it, but yeast is living and need energy in order to grow and produce the texture of our pizza dough. Lightly stir everything and let it sit for some time, giving the yeast time to grow. You will see that the mixture will start to get cloudy and bubble up, indicating the yeast is alive and ready to use.

One important note is to make sure you are not adding the salt to the yeast mixture when it is blooming. Salt will kill the yeast during the blooming stage, so make sure to only add the sugar. With the yeast mixture ready, combine the flour (learn how to measure flour) and salt and make a well for the oil and yeast mixture to go in. This makes sure that everything combines evenly and smoothly.

With everything in the bowl, start to combine the liquid with the flour and salt, using a fork or spoon to mix it all together. A shaggy dough will start to form, and you can turn the bowl with its contents over onto a floured work surface. An important step to getting the pizza dough chewy is the process of developing gluten by kneading the dough. Knead the dough by folding one side of the dough into the middle and pushing it down with the bottom of the palm of your hand, then rotate the dough and continue, adding some flour if the dough is too sticky to knead. By kneading and working with the dough, you stretch out the protein in the flour and give the structure of the dough, making it a crucial step to the pizza. To tell if the dough is done, poke it with a finger and the dough should spring back, and this can take 10-20 minutes depending on how you knead. Once the dough is kneaded, we can let it rest.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Shown above are the before and after of the dough rests. This process is known as proofing, and allows the dough to rest and produce gases, which makes the dough rise. We have to let the dough rest so it doesn't contract when we roll it out to make the pizzas. Letting your dough rest for a longer time, up to 24 hours, will result in the dough developing more flavor. Anywhere from 1 hour to 24 hours is okay to let the dough proof, but under-proofing will cause the dough to be stiff and over proofing can ferment the dough to a bad taste. After 12 hours, you can see the significant bubble and development of the dough, showing that is is ready to roll out.

Take out the dough and knead it for a little to get some structure back, and then split the dough into smaller portions and let rest for another 30 minutes. With the rest of the portions covered, start to poke one dough portion into a circle, stretching it out into a circle. You want to make the dough even, so avoid thinning out the middle. If you want to try to spin the dough like a pizza maker, lift the dough onto your knuckles and rotate the dough, gently lifting it up as you spin. With the dough pressed out into a circle, flour a surface that will serve as your pizza peel. You want to make sure the pizza doesn't stick to the surface as you transfer it to the oven. Assemble the pizza any way you like it on the pizza peel, working quickly to make sure the pizza dough doesn't stick. My favorite combination is the classic tomato sauce with mozzarella and basil.

While the oven is preheating to 550 degrees or the hottest temperature your oven can go, place a baking pan or a pizza stone in the oven, which holds heat to give the pizza the crip exterior as it bakes. Slide the pizza off the pizza peel and onto the surface already in the oven and let bake for 7-10 minutes. You are looking for a crisp, golden brown color on the cheese and the crust to know when to take the pizza out of the oven.

The entire kitchen will smell like tomato sauce, cheese, and basil baking in the oven, and that has become one of my favorite smells! The pizza is crisp and cheesy and the acidity from the tomatoes balances the fats from the cheese, completing this dish with excellence. Try out some different toppings and let me know how they turn out! Here's some awesome photos of the crust and the cheesiness of the pizza!