Making the Perfect Pizza

There is nothing easier than making a Pizza and nothing more easier than making a Perfect Pizza - provided you play by the rules and resist the urge to use any shortcuts. Anyone can make a fresh, wholesome and hearty pizza for eight with from-scratch dough and fresh vegetables in 45 minutes flat.

Equipment needed for making a Pizza:

Food Processor (you can do without it, but it is advisable to use it)
Rolling pin and board (Avoid the rolling pin if you can manage to flatten the dough using your hands)
Baking Stone or Sheet
Pizza peel
Spatula or Tongs
Pizza cutter - A big knife will do
Cooling rack
Pans for preparing sauces and cooked toppings

Ingredients Needed:

Flour
Yeast
Sugar
Warm Water
Olive Oil
Other ingredients for Pizza Sauces
Cheese and other toppings

The Steps Involved:

1. Make the dough and allow it to rise. Choose from our Pizza Dough Recipes.

2. Prepare the toppings while the dough is rising. This will include washing, chopping, sautéing etc. And remember, the Italians never grate their cheese, they only chop it.

Choose from our different Pizza Recipes the one that delights you most. How about Tomato and Feta Pizzas or Tex−Mex Pizza or a Pesto Pizza?

3. Prepare the Sauce. Again, resist the urge of using convenience products from the store and make your own. See our recipes for Cooked, Uncooked and Oil Pizza Sauces.

4. By the time you are done, the pizza dough must have risen. Punch it down and divide it into balls. Roll out the Pizza bases. Or you can do what the experts do. Use your fingers to flatten the ball starting from the center and progressing evenly out. Continue till the base is about 7-8 inches or your desired sizes. Do not flatten all the way to the edges. Leave a slightly thicker border. Carefully place your right hand on the pizza and use your left hand to turn the flattened dough on your right hand (see picture). Center the dough on top of your fists. Hold your fists about 1 to 2 inches apart and start rotating and stretching the dough. The dough is quite resilient and will not tear if you do this step carefully.

5. Place the dough on a dusted Pizza peel. Now's the time to dress it up the way you like. Spread the sauce evenly leaving the raised edge uncovered. Top the sauce with your favorite toppings, cheese slices or pieces and olive oil (or oil sauces).

6. Bake the pizza until the crust is golden brown and crisp on the edges and the bottom, 10 to 12 minutes, turning the pizza halfway through baking.

7. Prepare the second pizza dough while the first is baking. Lift out the baked pizza from the peel when done using spatulas or tongs. Cut into 8 pieces immediately using a rotary pizza cutter (or a pizza wheel) and serve right away!