How to make Pizza? - The basics of pizza making process

Throughout the history of human civilization meals of flatbreads or rounds of dough with various toppings were common and used consistently. People of ancient Greece, Persia and Rome used this kind of sustenance for centuries, until meal that we call today pizza found its home in the Naples area in Italy. During the period of Middle Ages, cooks from that city managed to improve the process of pizza creation, adding new ingredients and toppings with the goal to make best dish possible. After the arrival of tomato from the New World, the most important ingredient was present and pizza started slowly to spread across the world.

Pizza Making Process

In order to make pizza, first we need to revisit its official definition: "A pizza is a round, open pie made with yeast dough and topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and a variety of other ingredients as toppings".

First step - Making the Pizza Dough

The step and most important step in making pizza is creation of dough by mixing flour with water and or some other liquid (for example milk) and yeast. After the ingredients are perfectly mixed together, leave the dough must be placed in the bowl that is coated with small amounts of olive oil and be left to grow (yeast extract oxygen from starch in flour, and produce carbon dioxide which causes flour to rise). After around 1 to 1 1/2 hours of being in a warm environment, the dough will double in its size (if you don't have access to the warm environment, heat up your oven to 150 degrees, let it cool until its just a little warm and place dough inside it.

Second step - Preparing the Pizza

While the dough is growing you can prepare you topping ingredients, and preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 30 to an hour. When the dough is ready, put it on the surface that is slightly floured. With your hands stretch the pizza into oval shape and flatten it to be 1/2-inch thick. The most common diameter of pizza is 10 to 12 inches. For the end use your palms to create lip on the edge of dough, which will hold all the ingredients and sauces on the pizza.

Pizza Dough

Third step - Apply the Sauce and Toppings

With the dough prepared, now you can start adding sauce and toppings. Over the centuries, many kinds of tomato sauce became popular among pizza eaters. After sauce (which will give pizza moisture needed for the baking process) you can add cheese and any other topping that you want. The wide variety of these toppings can create countless types of pizzas - from low calorie diet ones, spicy, vegetarian, sweet, to the real behemoths with thousands of calories.

Fourth Step - Baking

After you have finished with the toppings, pizza is ready for baking. The usual amount of baking in a pre-heated oven lasts between 10 to 15 minutes. You will know that pizza is ready when crust is browned and the cheese is golden.

Tomato Pizza
Pizza and Pizza Oven