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How to Make Pizza from Scratch

Last Updated: April 12, 2024 Approved

This article was co-authored by Ollie George Cigliano . Ollie George Cigliano is a Private Chef, Food Educator, and Owner of Ollie George Cooks, based in Long Beach, California. With over 20 years of experience, she specializes in utilizing fresh, fun ingredients and mixing traditional and innovative cooking techniques. Ollie George holds a BA in Comparative Literature from The University of California, Berkeley, and a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from eCornell University. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 100% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 169,938 times.

Pizza is yummy, filling, and relatively easy to make. Plus, you can create this delish treat right from your own home! Prepare the dough, sauce, and ingredients separately. Once each of these elements is ready, combine them and cook the pizza at a high temperature until it turns crispy and delicious.

Ingredients

Pizza dough.

Makes enough for two 10-inch to 12-inch (25.4-cm to 30.5-cm) pizzas

  • 1-1/2 cups (375 ml) warm water
  • 1 package or 2-1/4 tsp (11.25 ml) active dry yeast
  • 3-1/2 cups (875 ml) bread flour
  • 2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
  • 2 tsp (10 ml) salt
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) sugar

Pizza Sauce

Makes 2 cups (500 ml) of sauce

  • 1 Tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
  • 2 tsp (10 ml) minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) minced sweet onion
  • 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) dried basil
  • 1 lb (450 g) diced fresh tomatoes OR 14.5-oz (430-ml) can of diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) sugar
  • 1/4 tsp (1.25 ml) salt
  • 1/4 tsp (1.25 ml) ground black pepper

Pizza Toppings

Makes enough for 1 or 2 pizzas

  • 8 oz (225 g) mozzarella cheese
  • 4-inch (10-cm) stick of pepperoni
  • 4 oz (110 g) bulk sausage
  • 1/2 of a small onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 sweet bell pepper, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh basil

Pizza Assembly

  • 1 to 2 Tbsp (15 to 30 ml) olive oil
  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) cornmeal

Preparing the Pizza Dough

Step 1 Combine the water, yeast, salt, and sugar.

  • Ideally, the water should be "blood temperature," or between 96 to 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (35.5 to 37 degrees Celsius).
  • Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes, or until the yeast fully dissolves and starts to foam.
  • For this recipe, you'll knead the dough by hand. If you plan to use a stand mixer, however, you can place the flour into the bowl of the mixer instead of the table or counter.
  • After mixing the water into the flour, repeat this step with another one-third of the water, followed by the remaining third.
  • When finished, a very sticky dough should form.
  • If you'd prefer to knead the dough using a stand mixer, fit it with the dough hook attachment and work the dough on low to medium spread for 10 minutes. [2] X Research source
  • Ideally, the air temperature should be between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit (24 to 29 degrees Celsius).
  • If you do not have a warm enough spot, heat the oven to 150 degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees Celsius). Turn off the preheated oven and give it several minutes to cool slightly, then allow the bowl of dough to rise inside.
  • Place the balls of dough 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on a lightly floured surface. When they expand enough to touch, they'll be ready to use or store.
  • If you wish to save one or both rounds for another time, you can place the dough in an airtight container and freeze it for up to two weeks. Fully thaw frozen dough to room temperature before working with it, though.

Preparing the Pizza Sauce

  • If you don't mind getting your hands dirty, you could also crush the tomatoes by hand instead of using a fork. Doing so would actually make it easier to control the process.
  • Set the tomatoes aside after crushing them.
  • Give the oil at least 30 to 60 seconds to warm up. You should be able to turn the pan and easily coat the bottom with the oil once it's warm enough.
  • Watch the contents of the saucepan carefully at this point. Minced garlic can burn quickly if you leave it unattended.
  • Allow the mixture to cook at medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until it begins to boil gently.
  • You can simmer the sauce for up to 90 minutes. A sauce that simmers for longer periods will be thicker and more flavorful.

Step 7 Let it cool.

  • If you want to save part of the sauce or all of the sauce for later, you can pour the cooled sauce into an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to one week. If frozen, the sauce can last for up to two months.

Step 8 Blend the sauce, if necessary.

  • After you puree the sauce, it should be ready to use.

Preparing the Pizza Toppings

Step 1 Shred the cheese.

  • For an even cheesier experience, double the amount of cheese and slice it into 1/4-inch (6-mm) thick pieces.
  • You can save time by using pre-shredded cheese or change the flavor by mixing different types of cheese.

Step 2 Slice the pepperoni.

  • If desired, you could dice the pepperoni into small cubes instead of slicing it.
  • You may omit the pepperoni if you do not wish to include it.

Step 3 Cook and crumble the sausage.

  • The sausage is only optional. You can skip it or add other meats to the pizza, as well. Some meats, like bacon, will need to be cooked and crumbled ahead of time. Others, like ham, only need to be sliced.
  • While this recipe only lists onions and peppers, you can use other vegetables, as well. Poaching the vegetables in oil will make them taste richer. [5] X Research source
  • Allow the oil to heat slowly to 190 degrees Fahrenheit (90 degrees Celsius) before adding the vegetables. If the oil sizzles or steams, it is too hot. Poach the vegetables in this hot oil until they soften, then fish them out with a slotted spoon and drain on clean paper towels.

Step 5 Tear the basil.

  • Do not use a knife. Chopping fresh basil could cause it to bruise.
  • You can also experiment with other fresh herbs, like oregano and parsley.

Pizza Assembly and Cooking it

  • Meanwhile, prepare a pizza stone or round baking sheet by coating it with a fine, even layer of cornmeal or flour.
  • If necessary, use a lightly floured rolling pin to flatten the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch (6 mm) or less. [6] X Research source
  • Alternatively, spread the dough out as much as possible on the work surface, then carefully pick it up. Place both fists beneath it and gradually stretch the dough out further, using a circular motion.
  • Note that if the dough shrinks back while you roll it out, allow it to rest for 5 minutes before continuing.
  • The oil should help the crust remain crisp even after you add the toppings.
  • Ideally, you should leave 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) between the edge of the sauce and the edge of the pizza dough. Leaving a little space should prevent the sauce from bubbling over the edge of the pizza and making a mess.
  • Continue to leave 1/2-inch (1.25-cm) of the outer crust edge uncovered.
  • Add toppings sparingly. If you add too many, you run the risk of drowning out the flavors instead of allowing them to complement one another.
  • Consider rotating the pizza after the first 5 to 7 minutes to ensure even browning.

Step 8 Slice and serve.

Community Q&A

Community Answer

  • No oven? No problem! You can make pizza without an oven using a skillet, grill, or tawa. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Things You'll Need

Prepare the pizza dough.

  • Small mixing bowl
  • Cutting board, clean table, or clean countertop
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Plastic wrap

Prepare the Pizza Sauce

  • Medium mixing bowl
  • 2-qt (2-L) saucepan
  • Spatula or wooden spoon
  • Immersion blender

Prepare the Toppings

  • Sharp knife
  • Small skillet
  • Small saucepan
  • Slotted spoon
  • Paper towels

Assemble and Cook the Pizza

  • Pizza stone or pizza-shaped baking sheet
  • Rolling pin
  • Pastry brush
  • Pizza slicer

You Might Also Like

Order Costco Pizza

  • ↑ http://www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/features/how-to-make-pizza-from-scratch/#LyI8LiyvDsBvGZXu.97
  • ↑ http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/homemade_pizza/
  • ↑ http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/basic-pizza-sauce-recipe.html
  • ↑ http://www.kitchentreaty.com/our-very-favorite-homemade-pizza-sauce/
  • ↑ http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article/pizza-with-mario-batali
  • ↑ https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-really-good-pizza-at-home-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-178384

About This Article

Ollie George Cigliano

To make pizza from scratch, start by mixing water, yeast, salt, and sugar in a bowl. In a separate mound of flour, use your fingers to form a deep well with high walls, and pour your wet mixture in the well to make your dough. Then, knead the dough for 10 minutes before allowing it to rise in an oiled bowl for 1 hour. Once it has risen, cut the dough in half, flatten and shape the dough into a circle, and transfer it to a pizza stone or baking sheet. Next, add your pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings, like pepperoni. Finally, place the pizza in a 450°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes, slice, and serve. To learn how to make your own pizza sauce, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Published: Dec 17, 2021 · Modified: Dec 14, 2023 by Meryl Downing 9 Comments

Homemade Pizza - The Complete Process

Friday Night is Homemade Pizza Night in our house! This is more than just a recipe! It's my Complete Process, a full guide to cooking pizza at home including all the tips and tricks I use to easily make delicious homemade pizza every week.

All the steps, from the crust, sauce, cheese and toppings are completely made from scratch in your regular oven. But, I'll show you ways to cut corners if you want to, and how to use your freezer and your pantry so it's not all the work in one night. It's the best pizza in town, with no fancy equipment, right from your own kitchen!

Scratch made pizza with tomato, bell pepper, sausage and basil.

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  • Pizza Night - A Pandemic Silver Lining

What seems like forever ago, in our long ago life before the pandemic, we would often go to my in-laws house at some point over the weekend. Those days were filled with swimming, cousins, fishing, kayaking, ice fishing in the winter, and often ordering pizza.

In the isolating months of March and April, I longed for the simple days of bringing the kids over for pizza night. We had to start some new traditions at home with just the 4 of us. Family Pizza Night was officially born.

Depending on the difficulty and challenges of the week, it would be either homemade, take-out, or frozen, but Friday would always be pizza. Well, online school pretty much ensured every week would be difficult and challenging. But, Fridays soon became our favorite days.

For one, the first grade had no zoom calls on Friday and a lighter amount of work. We started our Field Trip Friday tradition where we would meet up with a few friends also doing school online and go for a hike or outdoor adventure. That ebbed and flowed along with the state restrictions, and we hiked alone when we had to.

After a healthy dose of fresh air, Friday always ended with pizza and a movie.

The Homemade Pizza System

The pizza dough process, the meat pizza toppings, the veggie toppings, the cooking process, what to serve with pizza, final pizza thoughts, have you made homemade pizza, homemade pizza.

A homemade pizza with lots of vegetable toppings.

The more I made homemade pizza from scratch, the easier it got. What once felt like a chore now felt like an easy weeknight dinner, and the perfect end to our favorite day. So we seldom ordered in, and instead rolled up our sleeves, sometimes getting the kids to help.

  • Homemade pizza night got easier for me because I did what I always do in my kitchen. I made it part of "my system." My meal prep, my freezer stash, and my pantry, all working together so the actual work on Friday nights was pretty minimal.

Here is the breakdown, ingredient by ingredient. With ways to cut corners if you want to, ways to stretch your efforts, and ways to save time while still making seriously delicious pizza!

Homemade pizza with cheese, onion, pepperoni and peppers.

This simple artisan pizza dough recipe is part of the meal prep.

  • The recipe makes 8 pizza crusts, which is 2 nights worth for my family of four.
  • I make the dough the morning of, or a day or two before pizza night.
  • Cut it into 8 balls, put 4 in the freezer for next week, and 4 in a bowl on the counter on Friday morning (or in my fridge until Friday morning).
  • So I'm only making pizza dough every other week, saving me a lot of time. On the off week, I start defrosting the pizza dough in the fridge overnight on Thursday and then let it sit on the counter all day on pizza night.

Stock Your Freezer with Pizza Dough - If you start making pizza a lot, making extra and storing pizza dough in the freezer is a great time saver. You can make the recipe 2, 3 or even 4 times in one day, giving you lots of pizza nights to store in the freezer!

Don't try to double the recipe in the stand mixer, it won't fit. Just make one batch followed by another, as many times as you want to.

Make sure you have enough containers and enough freezer space. But having a big dough making day is so much easier than making it every week or every other. You only have 1 mess to clean up!

Homemade Pizza with yellow tomato slices, cheese and basil.

Making the Dough

Ideally, I mix the dough in a stand mixer with the dough hook. If you don't have a mixer, you can mix it in a bowl and then knead it by hand on a cutting board. Either way, it's not hard.

  • Add the flour and salt to the bowl of the stand mixer.
  • Fill a glass measuring cup with 2 cups of water and warm it for 1 minute in the microwave.
  • Then add the yeast, honey and olive oil to the water and whisk with a fork. Let it sit a few minutes before adding the yeast mixture into the flour mixture.
  • Allow to mix with the dough hook on low speed for about 5 minutes. You may need to stop a few times, pull the dough from the hook and restart.

If working by hand, mix the dough into a ball, then knead on a cutting board about 5 minutes. Lift and turn with your left hand and push down with the heel of your right hand, over and over for 5 minutes.

If the pizza dough is sticky, add a bit of flour. A few times, pulling and stretching the pizza dough, wrapping it around itself, and then tucking it back into a ball. This helps develop the gluten.

Homemade Pizza Dough being portioned into 8 pieces on a cutting board.

Portioning and Storing Pizza Dough

When you take the dough from the mixer, stretch and pull it and then tuck the ends under itself to look like a mushroom top. Cut the dough in half with a knife, then in quarters, then in 8 equal wedge-shaped pieces.

Take each piece and form again into the little mushroom ball. Oil a large bowl, and a container with a lid for the freezer and set 4 dough balls in each. Choose containers that are larger than the dough is now, it will expand to be bigger in size.

Now of course you can adjust this for your family size. These are thin and not very large pizzas. A hungry adult would easily eat 1 pizza or more and a kid maybe half. Freeze whatever amount you don't plan to use.

Homemade Pizza Dough balls portioned into a metal bowl and an extra container for the freezer.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, or better yet, reuse an old bread or bun bag to be eco-friendly!

  • Proofing pizza dough at this point is as simple as leaving it on the counter all day if pizza night is tonight.
  • Or, set it in your fridge overnight and pull out the morning of pizza night (up to 2 days in advance).
  • Put the extra container (or containers if you are making extra batches) in the freezer right away.

Frozen dough can be thawed in the fridge overnight. On the morning of pizza night, take the refrigerated pizza dough and let it sit on the counter all day.

If the dough part of homemade pizza seems like the hard part to you, there are plenty of store-bought refrigerated pizza dough options and crusts. Give them a try!

Pepperoni Pizza for kids.

There are lots of options for the sauce for your pizza. Again a major meal prep part of my pizza process, I almost NEVER make the sauce on the day I make the pizza. I always have pint jars of sauce in my freezer.

The difference between pasta sauce and pizza sauce just depends on the eater! To me, any basic tomato marinara sauce can be used for pizza sauce. So, instead of making a separate batch of sauce just for pizza, I instead make a big pasta dinner!

Then I freeze the leftover sauce in pint jars for pizza nights. One pint jar (a little less than 2 cups) is the right amount for 4 pizzas.

Here are some of my Favorite Marinara Sauce/Pizza Sauce Recipes that are delicious pasta dinners and work great for pizza:

Homemade spaghetti meat sauce over pasta with chopped basil.

I've also included a very basic pizza sauce in the recipe below to use just for pizza night if you like. It makes about 4 to 5 pint jars worth.

Pizza sauce can be frozen, but only fill the jars ¾'s full and cool overnight in the fridge first so the glass doesn't crack!

Kids making homemade pizza, adding pizza sauce to rolled out dough.

Pizza Sauce with Hidden Veggies

All the sauces above can be left vegetarian if you prefer. Pizza sauce also lends itself well to the idea of hidden veggies.

Whether you want your kids to be eating more vegetables, or you just want to add extra nutrition where you can, a food processor can easily add a lot of vegetables to your tomato sauce.

  • Any combination of onion, celery, carrot, bell pepper, zucchini, mushrooms and a few leaves of spinach or kale can be processed until very small.
  • Saute them in olive oil before adding canned tomatoes and seasonings and they blend right in to your pizza sauce.

These are just ideas and options, any red marinara, including store-bought jars will work great for pizza!

Pesto or bbq sauce pizzas also make fun variations. Caramelizing an onion in a pan, then adding a half cup of cream to slightly reduce has become our favorite white pizza sauce !

White pizza with caramelized onion cream sauce, prosciutto and arugula.

I've found that really any white shreddable cheese will do. I always shred my own, but have used any combination of provolone, mozzarella, white cheddar, or Parmesan.

A ball of fresh mozzarella for pizza is also a great option. Just slice it thin and spread it around. I usually do both shredded cheese and sliced fresh mozzarella.

Pizza making on the countertop, a finished pizza and a plate of shredded cheese and toppings.

  • Pepperoni - My easy trick for always having pepperoni ready to go, is to buy a bag of it from the deli counter and keep it in your freezer. It's better quality than the prepackaged pepperoni, and a 1 or 2 pound bag will last for months. It's an easy ingredient you never have to worry about not having.
  • Sausage - I like to buy a pound of bulk Italian sausage, fully brown and crumble it in a pan, and then freeze it. You can do this on pizza night and just freeze what you don't use, or anytime. Freeze it in small containers or jars, or a larger container and then just crumble the amount of frozen sausage you need onto your pizza to bake. It's delicious and easy and will last multiple pizza nights!
  • Other Meat Ideas - If you used the pasta sauce leftovers option, your sauce may have some meat right in it. Thinly sliced prosciutto bakes deliciously crispy on a pizza! Leftover or rotisserie shredded chicken also works great on pesto or bbq pizzas.

Pepperoni pizza with mozzarella cheese, olives and veggies.

The veggie toppings are totally your preference. My kids only like pepperoni, which is why I like the hidden veggies in the sauce! Me, I like as many veggies as I can possibly fit!

On pizza night, I start by preparing my veggies and then do it "build your own pizza" style so everyone gets something they like.

Making pizza with lots of toppings on a pizza peel ready to bake in the oven.

  • Bell Peppers - I have a few tricks here to make veggie prep an easy task. Whether it is leftover from my garden, or a surplus purchase at the last farmers market, I like to buy a bunch of bell peppers, slice and freeze them in a ziploc. You can add a sliced onion to the mix if you like. That way, my favorite topping, bell pepper, is always ready to go. I've found out a bag of frozen sliced peppers and onions is extremely handy for chicken fajitas, omelettes and soup nights too.
  • Veggie Ideas - You can add whatever fresh veggies you like, peppers, onions, sliced tomato or cherry tomato, mushroom, zucchini, and a few cloves of minced garlic (seriously good!).
  • Herbs - Chopped fresh spinach, kale, or any herbs like parsley, basil, oregano or rosemary are great! I freeze a lot of mixed herbs from my garden which are great to sprinkle on pizza. Just wash, chop and freeze in a ziploc.
  • Pantry Toppings - Don't forget your pantry and door of the fridge when looking for Italian pizza toppings! Jars of kalamata olives and artichokes are delicious. I've bought artichokes in a can which was larger than I needed, so I froze the extras in small jars for the next couple pizza nights.

Each pizza can be different, and different every week. Try copying your favorite restaurant pizzas or let each family member top their own!

Veggie pizza toppings prepped on a cutting board with a pizza ready to go into the oven.

Get creative with your toppings! I love adding what's growing in the garden and pizza toppings are a great way to clear out the fridge!

In the summer, try a pizza with caramelized onions, cheese, and peach slices! Topped with arugula and fresh basil and drizzled with balsamic glaze. Yum!

Peach pizza with caramelized onions, sliced peaches, arugula, cheese and balsamic glaze.

Your dough is proofed in a bowl on the counter, a jar of sauce is thawed in the fridge, you've shredded your cheese, a bag of pepperoni is in your freezer, and you chopped your veggie toppings. You're ready to put it all together!

You don't need a fancy oven or any fancy equipment, you just need to get set up.

  • I've found the best at home oven temperature for pizza to be 450° convection bake .
  • Place a large baking sheet pan on the bottom rack of the oven while it's preheating to act as a pizza stone if you don't have one (I don't have a pizza stone and a baking sheet works really well!).
  • You want your pizza baking temp and the sheet pan to be super hot.

Convection means the oven fan is blowing the hot air around, which gives you a crispier crust. If your oven doesn't have a convection setting just do regular bake.

A bowl with four pizza dough balls and veggie toppings ready to make pizza.

You'll need a few cutting boards, one to prepare your toppings, one to roll your pizza dough, one or two to slice and serve your finished pizza, and possibly one to transfer pizza to the oven. A pizza peel works great (the big wooden paddle used to take pizza in and out of the oven), but that extra cutting board will do if you don't have one.

  • Cornmeal - Spread the peel or cutting board with a generous amount of cornmeal. This is a must, absolutely important, don't skip it! Start with about 1 teaspoon, but add more in between pizzas. Think of it like sand on a dance floor, keep your pizza moving freely! Without cornmeal your pizza will stick to the peel when you are trying to transfer it to the oven and you will have a mess!

Rolling pizza dough with a rolling pin on a cutting board.

  • On a floured cutting board, roll your first pizza dough ball with a rolling pin. No, you don't need to fling the dough in the air like they do in a pizzeria! The rolling pin gives you a nice even thin dough.

Get it as thin as you can, if you want to pick it up and stretch and turn it with the back of your hands, go ahead and give it a try. Just don't get a thin spot or a hole! The goal is a thin circle, the size of the pizza peel.

Caprese pizza before it is baked, with garden tomato, mozzarella and basil.

  • Place the rolled dough on the cornmeal covered pizza peel or cutting board, and add your sauce, cheese and toppings. Now the next step is where you need to make sure things go right. First, can you lightly shake the peel or board back and forth to see if the cornmeal is moving the pizza around?
  • If it seems stuck in any spot, try to lift that part with a spatula and toss in a bit more cornmeal. Then you are going to pull the pan out slightly with a hot pad and shove the pizza onto the hot pan. Be careful, it's hot!

Sometimes I think it's easier to take the pan out of the oven with hot pads and set it on your stove top to transfer the pizza to it. Use a spatula to help if it seems to be sticking. If it stuck a bit, use more cornmeal for the next pizza.

Pizza from the oven at home with peppers, onions and olives with fresh basil leaves.

  • Put it in the oven and get started on your second pizza.
  • When you have your second pizza ready to go into the oven, your first pizza probably won't be quite done, but the crust will be firm enough to transfer to the top oven rack.
  • With two sturdy metal spatulas, carefully pick the whole pizza up and put it directly on the top oven rack. This will finish cooking, giving you a nice crispy crust. Now your pan is free to slide in your second pizza.

And if the top pizza drips, it will fall onto the pizza/pan underneath instead of burning onto the floor of the oven (I set off the smoke alarm quite a few times before figuring this out!).

Baking 2 homemade pizzas in the oven on a sheet pan and directly on the oven rack.

  • While those two are cooking, make your third pizza.
  • By the time you are ready to add pizza number three to the oven, pizza number one is probably done. Remember your oven is really hot, so check on it and don't let it burn.
  • Take it out, slice and serve on a cutting board. I usually do the kids plain pepperoni first since they are the most impatient when hungry!
  • Now transfer pizza number two to the top oven rack and pizza number three to the sheet pan.
  • Make your final pizza and transfer them all through the oven using this same method.

We always start eating in front of the movie as the first pizzas come out of the oven.

Homemade Pizza next to 2 sturdy metal spatulas for transferring pizza through the oven.

I love that pizza is a complete meal on its own, be we often add a salad or an appetizer, especially if it's a pizza party! These are some of our favorite additions:

  • Italian Mixed Greens Salad with Crispy Prosciutto
  • Green Bean Salad with Cherry Tomatoes
  • Bruschetta with Cherry Tomatoes
  • Melon Prosciutto Salad with Arugula
  • Prosciutto Parmesan Salad with Basil Dressing (pictured below)
  • Extra pizza toppings can be tossed in with a basic salad!
  • Arugula with dressing is even kind of fun to put right on top of the pizza!

A pizza next to a large salad with Parmesan and prosciutto.

Homemade Pizza Night in our house is our Friday night tradition. It's family night, it's movie night, it's our favorite night.

I used to feel that making pizza from scratch was a daunting difficult task. It takes a little practice, but with my system of time saving, you really can make delicious amazing pizza from your own oven every week!

Homemade pizza with pepperoni, red cherry tomatoes, onion and herbs.

I would love to hear about it if you're making pizza at home! Leave a star rating or a comment below and tell me how it turned out or ask any questions!

Follow Sungrown Kitchen on  Pinterest ,  Instagram , and  Facebook  to see our weekly pizza pics!   Subscribe Here  for new recipes delivered straight to your inbox!

Homemade pizza on a cutting board with pepperoni, cheese and veggies.

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Ingredients

For the crust (makes 8 pizzas, freeze extras).

  • ▢ 5⅓ cups flour
  • ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ▢ 2 cups lukewarm water (microwave for 1 minute)
  • ▢ 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
  • ▢ 1 teaspoon honey or sugar
  • ▢ 1 Tablespoon olive oil

For the Sauce (Makes 5 pint jars, Freeze Extras)

  • ▢ 1 small onion, diced (optional - add extra hidden veggies like bell pepper, zucchini, carrot, mushroom, celery, and a few leaves of spinach or kale, ground in a food processor)
  • ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
  • ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ▢ 8 grinds fresh black pepper
  • ▢ 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • ▢ 1 small can tomato paste 6 ounce can
  • ▢ 2 large cans crushed tomato 28 ounce cans

For the Toppings

  • ▢ 1 Tablespoon cornmeal IMPORTANT! DO NOT SKIP (start with 1 teaspoon and add more between each pizza)
  • ▢ white cheese Any combination of shredded provolone, mozzarella, white cheddar, or Parmesan
  • ▢ fresh mozzarella 1 ball for 4 pizzas, in addition to shredded cheese
  • ▢ Optional Toppings - bell pepper, onion, tomato, mushroom, zucchini, minced garlic, olives, artichokes, fresh or frozen herbs or greens like spinach, kale, parsley, basil, oregano or rosemary
  • ▢ Pepperoni, cooked sausage or prosciutto
  • ▢ Variations - Pesto or Bbq sauce with leftover or rotisserie chicken

Instructions

For the crust.

  • This recipe makes 8 pizzas, which is 2 pizza nights, 4 pizzas each night for my family of 4. Freeze the extra balls of dough immediately after making. Make the dough the morning of, or 1 to 2 days before pizza night. Add flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. In a glass measuring cup, warm 2 cups of water in the microwave for 1 minute. Add the yeast, honey and olive oil to the water and mix with a fork, let sit 5 minutes. Add the liquid into the flour and mix on low speed with the dough hook to form a rugged ball.
  • Knead the dough for 5 minutes using the dough hook on medium-low speed, or by hand on a floured cutting board if you don't have a mixer. If making by hand, lift and turn with your left hand and push down with the heel of your right hand, over and over for 5 minutes. Add flour if the dough is too sticky. A few times, pull and stretch the dough, wrap it around itself, and then tuck it back into a ball.
  • Once you have kneaded the dough, remove it from the mixer, and tuck it into a ball by tucking the ends under itself to look like a mushroom top. Cut the dough in half with a knife, then in quarters, then in 8 equal pieces.
  • Take each piece and form again into the little mushroom ball. Oil a large bowl, and a container with a lid for the freezer and set 4 dough balls in each. Choose containers that are larger than the dough is now, it will expand to be bigger in size. Adjust these amounts for your family size. These are thin and not very large pizzas, a hungry adult would eat 1 pizza or more and a hungry kid maybe a half. Freeze whatever amount you don't plan to use. For a family of 4, this is 2 nights worth of pizza dough.
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, or reuse an old bread bag to be eco-friendly. Leave it on the counter if pizza night is tonight, or set it in your fridge overnight and pull out the morning of pizza night. Frozen dough can be thawed in the fridge overnight. On the morning of pizza night, take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter all day.

For the Sauce

  • I don't recommend making homemade sauce on pizza night, see the above sauce section for easy pasta sauce/pizza sauce recipes and variations.
  • To make this homemade sauce recipe, in a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil, onion and any extra hidden veggies from the food processor. Saute until starting to brown and soften.
  • Add garlic, salt, pepper, and seasoning.
  • Add canned tomato. Reduce heat to low and simmer at least 1 hour. Freeze extra sauce in pint size jars (1 jar, about 2 cups, is the right amount of sauce for 4 pizzas). Only fill jars ¾'s full so they don't crack when freezing, cool in the refrigerator before freezing.

Making the Pizza

  • Place a large baking sheet or pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat to 450° convection bake.
  • On a cutting board, prepare and slice all toppings, including veggies, cheese and pepperoni.
  • Prepare a pizza peel or another cutting board with a generous sprinkling of cornmeal (start with 1 teaspoon and add more between pizzas).
  • On another floured cutting board, roll out the first ball of dough with a rolling pin (don't worry that they have expanded and grown together, just pull or cut back apart). Add flour as needed. Get it as thin as you can, about the size of the pizza peel. You can pick it up and lightly stretch it over the backs of your hands, but try not to get a hole in the dough.
  • Transfer dough to the cornmeal covered peel. Top with sauce, cheese and toppings.
  • Making sure the pizza slides around on the cornmeal, transfer the pizza to the hot pan in the oven. You can take the pan out and set it on the stovetop if that is easier. If any part sticks, carefully release it with a spatula and add more cormeal.
  • When pizza #1 is in the oven, make pizza #2. When pizza #2 is ready to go into the oven, pizza #1 probably won't be quite done, but the crust will be firm enough to transfer to the top oven rack. With two sturdy metal spatulas, carefully pick the whole pizza up and put it directly on the oven rack above. You can also do this with an additional cutting board or pizza peel. This pizza will finish cooking, giving you a nice crispy crust. Now your pan is free to slide in pizza #2.
  • While those two are cooking, make pizza #3. By the time you are ready to add #3, pizza #1 is probably done. Remember your oven is really hot, so check on it and don't let it burn. Take it out, slice and serve on a cutting board. Now transfer pizza #2 to the top oven rack and pizza #3 to the sheet pan. Make pizza #4 and transfer them all through the oven using this same method.
  • You did it! And it all gets easier with practice! Enjoy!
  • Amounts - This recipe makes enough dough for 8 pizzas which is 2 pizza nights for our family of 4.  The sauce makes enough for 5 pint jars, which is 5 pizza nights for us.  Extra dough and sauce can be frozen.  I slice 1 ball of fresh mozzarella for 1 pizza night (4 pizzas), plus extra shredded cheese.
  • You can make bulk amounts of pizza dough and freeze for several pizza nights.  Only do 1 recipe in the mixer at a time or it won't fit.  So just make the recipe, then make it again, and again, as many times as you want!  I usually make the recipe 4 times, for 8 pizza nights!  Make sure you have enough containers and freezer space.
  • Pepperoni and Sausage - buy a 1 or 2 pound bag of pepperoni from the deli counter and store in the freezer, add to pizza, no need to thaw.  Cook a pound of bulk Italian sausage and freeze to use for several pizza nights.
  • If your oven does not have a convection bake setting, just use regular bake.
  • Any parts of pizza night can be completely made from scratch, or take a little help from the store by buying refrigerated pizza dough or a jar of sauce.
  • Nutrition info is for 1 pizza including the crust, sauce and cheese.  Does not include toppings.

More Seasonal Garden Dinner Recipes

A white bowl of Broccoli Asparagus Soup topped with crispy prosciutto and croutons.

Reader Interactions

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January 22, 2023 at 2:12 am

Jessie says

September 02, 2022 at 10:10 pm

Dora Moore says

June 06, 2022 at 11:53 am

Thank you such a thorough recipe. I can’t wait to give this a try in making pizzas for my grandkids. So many great ideas.

Simply says

June 04, 2022 at 5:46 pm

What if someone doesn't have a convection oven 🙁 How should one cook this amazing recipe?

Meryl Downing says

June 04, 2022 at 10:06 pm

That is fine if your oven doesn't have a convection setting. You can just use regular bake, the hot temperature 450, is what will give you great pizza!

pizza completa animada says

February 27, 2022 at 4:51 am

Me encanto mucho tu página Muchas gracias, Un saludo

March 03, 2022 at 6:45 pm

Gracias and thank you!

Jennifer says

January 16, 2022 at 2:19 pm

Wow, thanks for such a comprehensive recipe! I will use your tips on stretching and handling the dough. I make homemade pizzas often, and I have just a few suggestions. I make my dough using a can of beer instead of water. I also make it in my bread machine’s dough cycle, so I can start only a couple hours before I need to bake the pizzas. Also, we grill our pizzas on our gas grill (outside) and they taste amazing! The crust gets crispy and chewy and there even a few charred spots, just like a pizzeria. I hope my tips inspire you as your recipe inspires me!

January 17, 2022 at 2:49 pm

Thanks Jennifer! Those are great tips! I have done pizza on the gas grill, it is delicious! Can also burn quickly so you've gotta watch it!

Rate This Recipe

Pizza

How to Make Pizza

A guide by Sam Sifton

You can make pizza at home. In fact, you can make pizza that will equal some of the best on the planet. With planning and practice, you can become good at it — even if you are a relatively novice cook. We are here to help that happen.

Before You Start

Plan ahead. Make the dough at least a day before you intend to make pizza, to give it enough time to rise.

Buy a food scale on which to weigh the ingredients for dough and toppings. It’s a smart investment: In baking, weight is a more accurate measurement than volume.

You will need a cooking surface. This could be a pizza stone or steel, or four to six unglazed quarry tiles measuring 6 inches by 6 inches from a building supply store. Whichever you use, heat in a very hot oven for at least an hour before cooking.

Roberta’s Pizza Dough

Recipe from carlo mirarchi , brandon hoy , chris parachini and katherine wheelock adapted by sam sifton.

  • Yield Two 12-inch pizzas

Melina Hammer for The New York Times

This recipe, adapted from Roberta’s, the pizza and hipster haute-cuisine utopia in Bushwick, Brooklyn, provides a delicate, extraordinarily flavorful dough that will last in the refrigerator for up to a week. It rewards close attention to weight rather than volume in the matter of the ingredients, and asks for a mixture of finely ground Italian pizza flour (designated “00” on the bags and available in some supermarkets, many specialty groceries and always online) and regular all-purpose flour. As ever with breads, rise time will depend on the temperature and humidity of your kitchen and refrigerator.

Our Greatest Pizza Recipes —Sam Sifton

Featured in: A Little Pizza Homework . 

Ingredients

  • 153 grams 00 flour (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon)
  • 153 grams all-purpose flour (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons)
  • 8 grams fine sea salt (1 teaspoon)
  • 2 grams active dry yeast (3/4 teaspoon)
  • 4 grams extra-virgin olive oil (1 teaspoon)

Preparation

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine flours and salt.
  • In a small mixing bowl, stir together 200 grams (a little less than 1 cup) lukewarm tap water, the yeast and the olive oil, then pour it into flour mixture. Knead with your hands until well combined, approximately 3 minutes, then let the mixture rest for 15 minutes.
  • Knead rested dough for 3 minutes. Cut into 2 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Place on a heavily floured surface, cover with dampened cloth, and let rest and rise for 3 to 4 hours at room temperature or for 8 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. (If you refrigerate the dough, remove it 30 to 45 minutes before you begin to shape it for pizza.)
  • To make pizza, place each dough ball on a heavily floured surface and use your fingers to stretch it, then your hands to shape it into rounds or squares. Top and bake.

Storing the Dough

Allow for a minimum of three to four hours for your dough to rise. But planning further ahead pays dividends: You can store that dough in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook, which means any weeknight can be pizza night.

Melina Hammer for The New York Times pizza dough..Published 04-09-2014

We put our pizza dough in the refrigerator to rise, placing the balls of dough on a floured baking pan covered loosely with a clean, damp kitchen towel. The chill leads to a slow rise, so we generally allow it to go overnight, or for at least six to eight hours. For a faster rise, leave the dough out on a countertop, similarly covered. It should be ready — that is, roughly doubled in size — in three or four hours.

Time imparts a marvelous tanginess to pizza dough, but it extracts a price as well. What you want to avoid is a skin developing on the dough . When the dough has risen, if you are not going to use it right away, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap , or place it in a quart-size plastic bag. Pizza dough so wrapped will last in the refrigerator for three days or so.

Another option is to freeze the dough using this incredibly easy freezer dough recipe . Make it, put it in the freezer in a freezer-safe plastic bag, and then move it to the refrigerator on the morning of the evening you want to cook.

If you end up making pizza at least once a week, consider investing in a few pizza dough pans , available in restaurant supply stores.

Shaping the Pizza

Shaping a pizza takes practice. The goal is to make a thin circle of dough, with a raised edge around circumference of the pie. Don’t worry if that doesn’t happen the first few times. Pizzas shaped like trapezoids or kites taste just as delicious.

Working on a floured surface, with floured hands, softly pat down the risen ball of dough into a circle , rotating it as you do.

Using the tips of your fingers, push down gently around the perimeter of the pie, rotating it as you do, to create the edge.

Pick up the dough and lightly pass it back and forth between your palms, trying to rotate it each time you do, using gravity to help the dough stretch. At approximately 12 inches in diameter, the pizza is ready to go.

Return the pizza to the floured surface, making sure that the side that you first pressed down upon remains facing upward, and gently slide the pie back and forth a few times to make sure that it does not stick . Add a little more flour to the surface beneath the pie if it does.

Gently slide a lightly floured pizza peel beneath the pie, or place it carefully on a floured cutting board or the back of a baking pan. Make sure again that the dough can slide back and forth. If it does, the pie is certified for topping.

The act of topping a pizza is a gentle one. Use a light touch. Above all, try not to overload the pie, particularly its center, which will lead to an undercooked crust. Two to three tablespoons of sauce are all you need, and perhaps a small drizzle of olive oil, accompanied by a couple of other toppings.

Pizza sauce does not need to be cooked ahead of time, and is so simply prepared that there is no reason to use the store-bought variety. Instead, use a food processor to combine a can of whole, drained tomatoes with a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.

Spread the sauce out on the dough using the back of a spoon, stopping approximately 1/2 inch from the dough’s edges. Do not use too much ; two or three tablespoons is enough. Keep leftover sauce refrigerated.

Mozzarella is the traditional pizza cheese, but depending on the sort of pie you are creating, really any good melting cheese will do: fontina, Cheddar, Colby, blue, provolone and smoked Gouda, among others, make for delicious pizzas.

Meat on a pizza is an option for some. Sausage and meatballs are both traditional toppings and should be cooked beforehand. Pepperoni, ham and other cured meats do not need to be, though delicate sheets of air-dried beef or pork should perhaps go onto the pie midway through or at the end of the cooking process, lest they dry out in the heat.

Anchovies are a marvelous addition to pizzas, and so are clams and mussels , even sheets of smoked salmon, particularly when paired with crème fraîche and capers.

Making a fried egg breakfast pizza is not for freshman-class pizza makers. Sliding a pizza topped with a raw egg into a hot oven takes patience and practice. In the meantime, while your pizza is cooking, gently fry an egg in olive oil in a small skillet on the stove, and when the pizza is done, slide it gently on top of the pie.

You can put anything on a pizz a . The question is where, and when. Herbs can go below cheese to protect them from the heat of the oven, or onto the top of the pie when it’s done.

Pineapple can take heat like a fireman and can go on from the start, raw. Grapes can, too (a nice pairing for sausage). Mushrooms , though, should be cooked on the stovetop before you use them as a topping for pizza. Likewise peppers both red and green. (Thinly-sliced jalapeno pepper is an exception.) Potatoes can go on a pizza raw only if you’re cooking in a very, very hot oven and you’ve sliced them very, very thinly – otherwise, parboil them before slicing and adding them to the top of a pie. Grilled asparagus is an excellent addition to a “white,” or tomato-free pizza. We like thinly sliced Brussels sprouts , sometimes, on similar pies (pair with pancetta!), and leeks melted slowly over butter as well.

As a rough guide: Precook anything that won’t cook fast, or cut it so thinly that it will. Anything delicate, like a pile of arugula dressed simply in lemon juice and oil, can go on the pie when it’s done, to cook gently in the pizza’s residual heat.

Cooking the Pizza

We cook most of our pizzas in the oven, on top of a stone or a steel. But you can bake pizza in a sheet pan as well, or grill it outdoors. You can even cook a pizza on a stovetop.

Baking in the Oven

To bake a pizza in an oven, you’ll need either to do it on a stone or metal surface, or in a sheet pan. Either way, you should set the oven to its highest temperature and let it heat it for a full hour before you intend to cook.

If you are using a pizza stone, steel or a set of tiles, begin by placing it on the middle rack of the oven before you turn it on, allowing it to preheat for a hour.

When you’re ready to cook, carefully place your shaped dough on a lightly floured pizza peel or cutting board, or on the back of a baking pan. Gently shake the peel, board or pan back and forth a few times to make sure the dough can move, then add your toppings.

Pick up your pizza peel with the topped pie on top of it, and gently slide the pie onto the stone or tiles, starting at the back of the oven and working your way toward its front. Bake for about four to eight minutes, until the edges are a beautiful golden brown, and the sauce and cheese are bubbling nicely. Slide the peel back under the baked pizza to remove it from the oven, and then slide the pizza onto a cutting board, where it can be cut into slices.

If you are using a sheet pan, lightly oil the pan , then stretch the risen dough into the shape of the pan, then top and place in the oven until golden brown and bubbling.

Pan-Frying on the Stovetop

Cooking a pizza on top of the stove is a simple way to get started in the pizza-making game, and a single ball of dough will yield two pan pizzas .

Simply heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, then film it with olive oil. Take one half of a ball of risen pizza dough and press it out into a circle just smaller than the pan .

When the oil shimmers, put the dough in the pan and adjust the heat so it browns evenly without burning. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork. Cook this round in the pan for a minute or so, then turn it over with the bottom is browned and cover with toppings. Either top the pan with a lid to melt the cheese or run it under a broiler to achieve the same result.

Grilling Outdoors

Grilling pizza really means grilling one side of a flatbread over fire , then turning it over and topping it. And while you can certainly use our essential pizza dough recipe to do that, a sturdier dough recipe that is less prone to ripping will yield a better result.

To cook a pizza on a grill requires some planning. You need to cook one side of the pizza before turning it over and topping it, and cooking the other side. So take time to assemble all the ingredients you’ll need to make the pizzas beforehand.

Prepare a hot fire; if your grill grate is clean, you shouldn’t need to oil it. Slide the pizza dough from the peel onto the rack. After a few minutes, use tongs to lift the dough and check whether it’s browning on the bottom . Watch closely so it doesn’t burn. When it’s nicely browned, use the tongs to flip the dough over, then brush it with olive oil and cover it with toppings. Place the lid on the grill for a few minutes more until the cheese is melted.

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Sam Sifton, Carlo Mirarchi, Brandon Hoy, Chris Parachini, Katherine Wheelock

15 minutes, plus 1 hour to heat oven

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Suzanne Lenzer

About 30 minutes

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Green and White Pizza

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Mari Uyehara, Cathy Lo, Joe Beddia, Pizzeria Beddia

2 hours 15 minutes, plus about 28 hours’ fermenting, rising and resting

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Lidey Heuck

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Rick Easton’s Pizza With Peppers

Mark Bittman, Rick Easton

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  • Family Dinners

Homemade Pizza & Pizza Dough

Make perfect pizza at home with this pizza recipe, including an easy pizza dough recipe.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Family Pizza Time

  • The Best Flour for Pizza Dough
  • How to Check Your Yeast
  • How to Measure Flour for Pizza
  • Proofing the Dough Overnight

Pizzas With Raw Ingredients

  • Make-Ahead and Freezing

What to do when your 8-year old nephew comes to visit? Make pizza, of course!

Well, not of course, actually. I didn't think of it until we exhausted Sorry, Monopoly, and gin rummy. But it did turn out to be a brilliant idea as my father had just received a baking stone for Christmas, and my nephew loves pizza.

I told him if he helped me make it I would talk about him on my website and he would be famous. That seemed to get his attention. He thought the dough was "slimy and gross" but he loved picking his own toppings, and the finished product was "awesome".

Simply Recipes / Annika Panikker

My Favorite Pizza Dough Recipe

The following method I patched together from recipes in both Joy of Cooking and Cook's Illustrated's The Best Recipe . The pizza dough recipe makes enough dough for two 10 to 12 inch pizzas.

Next time I'll be a bit more patient with stretching out the dough so I can get it even thinner.

The Best Flour for Homemade Pizza Dough

Bread flour is the best flour for homemade pizza dough. You can use all-purpose flour instead of the bread flour called for in the recipe, but bread flour is higher in gluten than all-purpose flour and will make a crispier crust for your pizza.

How To Make Sure Your Yeast Is Active

Pizza dough is a yeasted dough that requires active dry yeast. Make sure the check the expiration date on the yeast package! Yeast that is too old may be dead and won't work.

Also, if the yeast does not begin to foam or bloom within 10 minutes of being added to the water in Step 1 of Making the Pizza Dough, it is probably dead. You'll need to start over with new, active yeast.

How To Measure Flour for This Pizza Dough Recipe

Cup measurements can vary depending on how you are scooping the flour (we fluff the flour, lightly scoop it, and level with a knife). So I recommend using a kitchen scale to measure out the flour amounts by weight. This is the only way you'll get a consistently accurate measurement.

Is It Better To Let the Dough Rise Overnight?

You don’t have to let your pizza dough rise overnight – or up to 48 hours – in the refrigerator, but if you do, it will develop more flavor and air bubbles that will puff up when the pizza is cooked. (Some people fight over the slices with air bubbles.) Make sure to take the dough out of the refrigerator an hour before using it to bring it to room temperature.

There are some toppings that should be cooked first before topping a pizza because they won’t cook fully before the pizza is done cooking. Raw meat should be fully cooked before adding it as a topping. Any vegetables that you don’t want to be raw on the cooked pizza such as onions, peppers, broccoli, or mushrooms should be sautéed first.

Make-Ahead and Freezing Instructions

After the pizza dough has risen, you can freeze it to use later. Divide the dough in half (or the portion sizes you will be using to make your pizzas). Place on parchment paper or a lightly floured dish and place, uncovered, in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the freezer and place in individual freezer bags, removing as much air as you can from the bags. Return to the freezer and store for up to 3 months.

Thaw the pizza dough in the refrigerator overnight or for 5 to 6 hours. Then let the dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before stretching it out in the next steps.

Throw a Pizza Party!

  • Spicy Sausage Pizza
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The dough for this pizza yields about 2 pounds, enough for two (1-pound) balls of dough.

Ingredients

For the pizza dough

1 1/2 cups (355 ml) warm water (105°F-115°F)

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast

3 3/4 cups (490 g) bread flour

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (omit if cooking pizza in a wood-fired pizza oven)

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

For making the pizza and toppings

Extra virgin olive oil

Cornmeal (to help slide the pizza onto the pizza stone)

Tomato sauce (smooth or pureed)

Firm mozzarella cheese, grated

Fresh soft mozzarella cheese, separated into small clumps

Fontina cheese, grated

Parmesan cheese, grated

Feta cheese, crumbled

Mushrooms, very thinly sliced if raw, otherwise first sautéed

Bell peppers, stems and seeds removed, very thinly sliced

Italian pepperoncini, thinly sliced

Italian sausage, cooked ahead and crumbled

Sliced black olives

Chopped fresh basil

Baby arugula, tossed in a little olive oil, added as pizza comes out of the oven

Pepperoni, thinly sliced

Onions, thinly sliced raw or caramelized

Ham, thinly sliced

Making the Pizza Dough

Place the warm water in the large bowl of a heavy duty stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved.

After 5 minutes stir if the yeast hasn't dissolved completely. The yeast should begin to foam or bloom, indicating that the yeast is still active and alive.

(Note that if you are using "instant yeast" instead of "active yeast", no proofing is required. Just add to the flour in the next step.)

Add the flour, salt, sugar, and olive oil, and using the mixing paddle attachment, mix on low speed for a minute. Then replace the mixing paddle with the dough hook attachment.

Knead the pizza dough on low to medium speed using the dough hook about 7-10 minutes.

If you don't have a mixer, you can mix the ingredients together and knead them by hand.

The dough should be a little sticky, or tacky to the touch. If it's too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour.

Spread a thin layer of olive oil over the inside of a large bowl. Place the pizza dough in the bowl and turn it around so that it gets coated with the oil.

At this point you can choose how long you want the dough to ferment and rise. A slow fermentation (24 hours in the fridge) will result in more complex flavors in the dough. A quick fermentation (1 1/2 hours in a warm place) will allow the dough to rise sufficiently to work with.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap.

For a quick rise, place the dough in a warm place (75°F to 85°F) for 1 1/2 hours.

For a medium rise, place the dough in a regular room temperature place (your kitchen counter will do fine) for 8 hours. For a longer rise, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 24 hours (no more than 48 hours).

The longer the rise (to a point) the better the flavor the crust will have.

Preparing the Pizzas

Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 475°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour. If you don't have a pizza stone, you can use a pizza pan or a thick baking sheet; you need something that will not warp at high temperatures.

Remove the plastic cover from the dough. Dust your hands with flour and push the dough down so it deflates a bit. Divide the dough in half.

Form 2 round balls of dough. Place each in its own bowl, cover with plastic and let sit for 15 minutes (or up to 2 hours).

Prepare your desired toppings. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way.

About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza. One to two mushrooms thinly sliced will cover a pizza.

Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a lightly floured work surface.

Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further.

Let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter—10 to 12 inches.

Treat the dough gently!

You can also hold up the edges of the dough with your fingers, letting the dough hang and stretch, while working around the edges of the dough.

If a hole appears in your dough, place the dough on a floured surface and push the dough back together to seal the hole.

Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. Pinch the edges if you want to form a lip.

Use your fingertips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Let rest another 10 to 15 minutes.

Repeat with the second ball of dough.

Lightly sprinkle your pizza peel (or flat baking sheet) with cornmeal. (The corn meal will act as little ball bearings to help move the pizza from the pizza peel into the oven.)

Transfer one prepared flattened dough to the pizza peel.

If the dough has lost its shape in the transfer, lightly shape it to the desired dimensions.

Spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza. Be careful not to overload the pizza with too many toppings, or your pizza will be soggy.

Sprinkle some cornmeal on the baking stone in the oven (watch your hands, the oven is hot!). Gently shake the peel to see if the dough will easily slide, if not, gently lift up the edges of the pizza and add a bit more cornmeal.

Slide the pizza off of the peel and onto the baking stone in the oven.

Bake pizza in the 475°F oven, one at a time, until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10 to 15 minutes. If you want, toward the end of the cooking time you can sprinkle on a little more cheese.

Did you love the recipe? Leave a comment and give us some stars below!

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how to make a pizza from scratch essay

How to Make and Form Pizza Dough: A Step-by-Step Guide

Related to:.

How to Make and Form Pizza Dough

Step 1: Getting Started Start with a medium bowl that's been lightly coated with olive oil. Add warm water (about 110 degrees F), dry yeast and sugar. Note: The activated yeast feeds on the sugar and makes the dough rise. In another bowl, combine flour and salt. Have a fork, cutting board, knife, pizza pan and rolling pin (optional) handy.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Step 2: Make a Well in the Center of the Dough In the bowl containing the flour and salt, make a well in the center and add the yeast. Tip: If the yeast doesn't foam, check the expiration date and water temperature (should be approximately 110 degrees F). Add the olive oil. Use a fork to pull the dry into the wet, then mix.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Step 3: Knead the Dough When the dough starts to come together, get in there with your hands and knead it for a few minutes on a lightly floured board. Use the heel of your hand to push the dough down and forward. Give it a few turns. You're done when the dough is a little tacky.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Step 4: Cover the Dough in Plastic Wrap Place the kneaded dough into the oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size. Tip: Chart the progress of the rising dough by using a marker on the plastic wrap to circle the size of the ball of dough at the beginning of the process. It can take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours for the dough to rise, depending on the recipe and ambient temperature.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Step 5: Check to See If the Dough Is Done If the dough leaves an indentation when poked, it's ready.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Step 6: Divide the Dough Once the dough has risen properly, use a knife to divide it. The larger the piece, the bigger the pizza; the smaller portions are easier to handle at home. Form into balls for individual pizzas, and place on a plate. Cover with a damp cloth. Let the balls of dough rest until you poke them and see an indentation.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Step 7: Shape the Dough Sprinkle a pizza pan with a little semolina for good separation and a nutty crunch. Place a ball of dough in the center of the pan and spread it out, using a rolling pin or your hands. Spin it. Pull the dough to the edges of the pan to thin out the center. Add some more semolina for better separation. Make sure the thickness is even.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Step 8: Top the Pizza and Bake Top the spread dough with your favorite ingredients and bake in a 500-degree F oven for approximately 10 minutes. Perfect pizza every time. Watch our how-to video for more.

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10 Actually Legit Tricks For Making Restaurant-Quality Pizza At Home

Perfect homemade pizza, right this way.

Hannah Loewentheil

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My name is Hannah, and just like any true New Yorker, I live and die by a good slice of pizza. Whether it's Neapolitan-style, a doughy grandma slice, or crispy thin-crust, I love it all.

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And while I love to cook, I always assumed that making good pizza was some secret technique reserved for seasoned pizza-making veterans — a skill inaccessible to us casual home cooks. But then, I went to pizza school.

This Lower East Side institution called Pizza School NYC offers hands on workshops that teach you exactly how to make restaurant-quality pizza from scratch. And to be honest, it was a transformative experience for me.

For some backstory: To celebrate becoming eligible for Medicare 🤣, my father decided to fulfill a lifelong dream: Buy a pizza oven. In order to hone our craft we took a family pizza-making class. Since then, I've pretty much become obsessed with making pizza at home.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Disclaimer: You do NOT need a pizza-oven in order to make great pizza at home!! All you need is an oven and a pizza stone .

Now, back to pizza school. Here are some of the best tips and tricks I learned in order to make actually delicious homemade pizza .

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

1. Don't be lazy! Make the dough from scratch.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

While it's easy to pick up store-bought pizza dough, you only need a few simple ingredients to make it from scratch: Unbleached flour, instant dry yeast, sugar, salt, water, and olive oil. You'll also want some semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting. THAT'S IT! Homemade dough is much easier to work with, and it's well worth the extra effort. Here's a simple recipe if you want one to follow.

2. Knead the dough by hand rather than with a stand mixer.

Here's the thing: You don't want to overwork your dough. Using a stand mixer with a dough hook is easier, but you'll have a better feel for the texture of your dough if you knead it by hand. If the dough is sticking to your hands, add a little bit of flour. The perfect dough should be a little tacky, but not too sticky.

3. Save your take-out containers, then use them to freeze pizza dough for future use.

You can pre-make pizza dough and freeze it in plastic take-out containers just like these . After you knead the dough, shape it into a ball and store it in airtight containers in the freezer. Then you can defrost your dough in the fridge overnight whenever you want to make homemade pizza.

4. Let the dough rest and rise at room temperature for about 45 minutes.

Whether you're planning on making pizza immediately or storing the dough for later, it has to rise at room temperature. Set the dough aside and cover it. After about 45 minutes, you'll see it has doubled — even tripled — in size.

5. Don't use a rolling pin!

When it comes time to stretch the dough, all you need are your hands are gravity. Remove the pizza from its container and softly pat around the edges (a technique pizza school calls "soft bongos"). Then, hold the pizza in the air, turning it slowly, and let gravity to the work for you.

6. Semolina flour is your saving grace.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

The first time I tried making pizza from scratch (before Pizza School, of course), I had a very hard time transferring my pizza into the oven. The dough got super sticky and it completely stuck to the counter top. There's a simple hack to solve this problem: First, dust semolina flour on top of a pizza peel . Once your pizza dough is stretched, place it on the floured peel and add your toppings. Thanks to the semolina flour, the dough should slide right off the peel and into your oven.

7. When it comes to toppings, less is more.

Now I'll be the first to admit that I like a saucy slice, but you'll want to use toppings sparingly, especially the tomato sauce. Too much sauce and your pizza dough will get soggy and it will be difficult to transfer into the over. Apply the sauce like you're Jackson Pollock painting an abstract painting with a few splotches here and a drizzle there. Avoid putting sauce (or any toppings for that matter) right at the edges of your crust.

8. Let your pizza oven or pizza stone get hot, hot, hot.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

The key to a nice, charred crust and evenly cooked pizza is a hot oven. Most people don't have a restaurant-style pizza oven, but that's OK. Just buy a pizza stone and let it preheat in a 500-500 conventional oven for about an hour. You'll want to remove anything else that might be in your oven (extra racks, cookie sheets, etc...) before heating the pizza stone.

9. Time your pizza toppings carefully.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Timing is important when it comes to pizza-making. Certain ingredients that cook quickly (like sun-dried tomato and fried egg, for example) should only be added when your pizza is almost out of the oven. Others like fresh herbs and condiments like extra virgin olive oil, balsamic, or hot honey should be added right after you remove the pizza from the oven.

10. Don't skimp on quality toppings.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Great pizza is made from great ingredients. For example, the olive oil you use to make the pizza dough doesn't have to be anything special, but you should choose a good finishing olive oil because it'll enhance the over all flavor. Opt for high quality cheeses, ripe farmer's market veggies, and fresh herbs. While at the beach, I made a Frank Pepe's copycat white clam pizza using fresh littlenecks we caught in the nearby bay that same morning, and it was truly incredible because everything tasted so fresh. Obviously, you don't have to spend a fortune on a ton of fancy ingredients — just settle on a few quality toppings even if it's just fresh mozzarella, basil, and a reputable brand of San Marzano tomatoes.

Obviously homemade pizza tastes amazing, but making it from scratch is half of the fun. It's a great way to spice up date night, a family get together, or an evening with friends. Now go forth and make pizza! If I can do it, you can too.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

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How to Make Pizza at Home

An easy homemade pizza recipe from our test kitchen with tips to make it your own.

homemade pizza

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Ingredients

Cornmeal for baking sheet

Flour for surface

pizza dough (thawed, if frozen)

marinara sauce

mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated

grated parmesan

Basil, for sprinkling

  • Step  2 On a lightly floured surface, shape pizza dough into a 14- to 16-in oval or circle and place on prepared sheet (make sure that the dough slides easily around the sheet, if not, add a bit more cornmeal). 
  • Step  3 Spread sauce on dough, leaving a ½-in boarder all the way around and sprinkle with mozzarella and then Parmesan. If using a stone, slide the pizza off the sheet onto the stone. Bake until crust is golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Sprinkle with basil just before serving, if desired.

Five Steps for Delicious Pizza at Home:

1. start with a solid pizza dough recipe..

To quote Ina Garten, “store-bought is fine,” but making pizza dough from scratch allows you to control the ingredients and ultimately the results. A lot of recipes call for “00” flour, but remember that “00” only refers to the fine grind of the flour, not a high protein content, which is often insinuated by pizza dough recipes. A finer grind requires less hydration than a typical all-purpose grind, which creates a less chewy dough, while a higher protein percentage provides more structure.

When we chatted with Laura Meyer, Administrator and Instructor at the International School of Pizza and one of the presenters on Breville’s “ Meet the Makers: A Virtual Pizza Tour ,” and she shared that most pizzerias use a blend of flours, which contribute to a unique texture and taste. When shopping for flour, she recommends purchasing from smaller mills that offer more variety, including curated pizza dough mixes, like this one from Central Milling .

2. Make the dough.

Pizza dough can be made by hand, in a food processor , or in a stand mixer . When making a pizza dough by hand , it’s best to start by using a wooden spoon to stir together the liquid ingredients (including proofed yeast) in a large bowl with half of the dry ingredients. From there, add the remaining dry ingredients little by little, until the dough starts to form a shaggy ball and has difficulty incorporating more dry ingredients. Once the ball is firm, transfer to a floured surface and use your hands to knead until it is smooth and springs back when touched.

To make pizza dough in a food processor , add the dry ingredients to the bowl first. Pulse a few times to stir. Then, with the motor running, use the feed tube to slowly add in the liquid ingredients until the dough forms a ball and rotates around the bowl without sticking to the sides. Process for about 30 seconds.

To make pizza dough in a stand mixer , add the liquid ingredients to the bowl first and, while the mixer is running on low, add in the dry ingredients, little by little, until the dough forms a ball and doesn't stick to the sides. Increase the speed to medium-low and allow to knead for about 5 to 6 minutes, adding in more dry ingredients as necessary. The beater or dough hook may be used.

3. Proof the dough.

Once the dough is kneaded, transfer to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap and/or several dish towels so it can proof. As the dough proofs, it will form air bubbles, which increase the size of the dough, and develop flavor. Proofing can take place in a warm area where it will bulk up quickly, or even in the fridge over a couple of days. (If proofing in the fridge, cover loosely with plastic wrap to avoid condensation from forming.) The longer you proof dough, the more flavorful it will become; take care not to overproof because it can become sour. A general rule of thumb is to proof it until it doubles in bulk.

After the dough has proofed, divide into individual balls that can be stretched just before cooking.

4. Prepare the sauce and toppings.

Different styles of pizza use different types of sauce. Since the sauce cooks in the oven, there’s no need to cook it beforehand unless you’re looking for an extra deep tomato flavor. For a Neapolitan style, try whole canned tomatoes that you break up with your hands, or for New York style, try crushed tomatoes seasoned with dried Italian seasoning.

When adding the sauce to the dough, add less than you think you'll need and use the bottom of a ladle to even it out as much as possible. Pools of sauce slow down the cooking process and cause wet spots.

Almost anything can be used as pizza topping, but keep in mind that you want to try to balance the flavors as much as possible. If you like a lot of sauce and it’s very flavorful, stick to simple flavors that won’t compete, like cheese and simply seasoned vegetables. If you have toppings you want to show off, like a creamy burrata or a special meat like prosciutto, let those ingredients be the star by using a scant amount of sauce or other overpowering additions.

Toppings can be added to pizza raw or cooked, before or after cooking the pizza. When deciding how to use, think of the flavors you want to achieve; cooking them before will create deeper flavors, while cooking them during will create more simple ones. Pre-cooking meat, like sausage, on the other hand, will make it drier, while cooking it on the pizza will make it more tender and juicy.

5. Shape the dough.

When ready to form the pizza, Anthony Falco, International Pizza Consultant and the first instructor on Breville’s “Meet the Makers: A Virtual Pizza Series, ” recommends doing so on a wooden peel that can be used to transfer the pizza to the oven. Flour the peel generously and often to make sure the dough doesn’t stick. All purpose flour can be used, or some people like semolina or cornmeal; both are granular and don’t clump.

To shape the dough, Meyer recommends using your hands versus a rolling pin, which can deflate the dough and make it less airy. Push it down in the middle first, and then form the crust a little so it can stay intact while the rest of the dough is shaped. When done, Falco uses his fingertips to dimple the center, which he says leaves air in there and is also good for toppings.

6. Bake the pizza.

Now, for the fun part. Pizza can be baked many ways: in the oven, in a toaster oven, in a skillet and then finished under the broiler, in a sheet pan, or on a grill. To bake pizza in an oven, Meyer highly recommends a baking steel, which retains heat even better than a baking stone. She also recommends investing in two, particularly if you plan on making more than one pizza at a time. To use, position the baking steel or stone on the top rack of your oven (instead of the bottom, which is often recommended!) while your oven heats up to 500ºF or the highest temperature. If you don’t have a baking steel or stone, you may also use a sheet pan flipped upside down.

When heated, use a wooden or perforated peel to transfer the pizza to the baking steel or stone on the upper rack. Monitor it until the cheese is melted, the crust is browned and the bottom is fully cooked. The pizza may be transferred to the middle rack toward the end of cooking to finish.

  • Toaster ovens are a great option to make pizza because they get very hot in a short amount of time. Many are big enough to fit a 12-inch pie and can be used with a stone. Use the highest temperature on convection mode and the bottom rack.
  • Cast iron skillets are a popular way to make pizza. They can be used to start the cooking process on the stovetop for a very crispy bottom, or completely in the oven for a saucy, deep dish. When using a cast iron, apply a generous amount of oil to the bottom of the pan, and stretch your dough directly in the pan. Top with ingredients, and either heat over medium high until the crust forms and finish in a hot oven, like this method, or under a broiler, or transfer skillet with uncooked pizza to the middle rack of a preheated oven until fully cooked.
  • Sheet pans may also be used to make Grandma or Sicilian style pizza. Just like when using a cast iron skillet, generously coat the bottom of the pan with oil before spreading out the dough. Bake on the bottom rack of a very hot oven until browned and crispy.
  • To make pizza on a grill, heat until the temperature reaches about 700ºF. Shape the dough, brush one side with oil and cook, oil-side down, over medium-high with the lid closed until firm. Add more oil to the top, flip and then add the toppings. Reduce the heat to medium, close the lid, and cook until the cheese is melted and bottom is golden brown.

7. Cool the pizza.

Once your pizza is cooked, Falco recommends using a metal pizza peel to remove it from the oven. He also suggests transferring it to a wired rack before serving, where it can stay crisp and not soak up any possible condensation.

At Home Pizza-Making Must Haves

Pizza Peel

Epicurean Pizza Peel

This pizza peel is large enough to build a 12-inch pizza on and can be used to transfer pizza in and out of the oven. It's sturdy, yet lightweight with a reversible beveled edge to get under cooked pizza. It can also be used for cutting on and serving. 

3-Piece Pizza Grilling Set

Cuisinart 3-Piece Pizza Grilling Set

A flexible metal pizza peel makes for easy pizza retrieval; plus, this one has a folding handle for storage. The included pizza cutter and pizza stone, which can be used in the oven or on the grill, feel like a bonus. 

The Original Baking Steel

Baking Steel The Original Baking Steel

Baking steels get even hotter than pizza stones, which better replicate brick-oven results; their rectangular shape allows for more heating and cooking area.

Cast Iron Skillet

Lodge Cast Iron Skillet

Cast iron skillets get hot and stay hot without the use of pizza stones or steels. Top with extra sauce for a deep dish, or as you normally would for a more personal pan take. 

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How To Make A Pizza Process Essay

This sample essay on How To Make A Pizza Process Essay offers an extensive list of facts and arguments related to it. The essay’s introduction, body paragraphs, and the conclusion are provided below.

How to Make a Pizza Generally if you ask someone what their favorite food is you’ll probably hear the word pizza. Pizza is one of everyone’s favorite foods. There is so many different toppings, cheeses, sauces, and crust styles. But not everyone knows how to make a pizza, so this essay will break the recipe down step by step to tell someone how to prepare and create a pizza.

First, to start out you must start by prepping all of the necessary items for the pizza. Generally you will start by making the dough.

The dough consist of two and a half cups of flour, one and a half teaspoon of yeast, half a teaspoon of salt, a small pinch of sugar, and a cup of warm water.

In order to make the dough you mix yeast, warm water, and sugar into a mixer. Then you will turn the mixer on to low and let mix for about ten minutes. Then after ten minutes of mixing you will add the flour, sugar, and salt and let mix for about twenty more minutes. Finally after the dough is finished, you will pull the dough out of the bowl and place it on a table in order to rise and later be cut, weighed, and rolled into a proportional size, round dough ball.

how to make a pizza from scratch essay

Proficient in: Cooking

“ Have been using her for a while and please believe when I tell you, she never fail. Thanks Writer Lyla you are indeed awesome ”

Essay About Pizza

The second step to making a pizza is preparing the pizza sauce. The pizza sauce consists of 6 oz. of tomato paste, one and a half cups of water, one-third cup of olive oil, two cloves of minced garlic, a half teaspoon of oregano, half teaspoon of basil, and half teaspoon of rosemary. To start the sauce you will need to mix the tomato paste and water into a large pot. Then you will mix in your minced garlic. To mince the garlic just chop it a little bit finer than dicing it. After the garlic you will put in your dried spices.

After all of your ingredients are in give the sauce a good stirring in order to mix all of the ingredients really well. Then turn the stove on to low and let simmer for about a half hour. Later when the sauce has simmered you can add salt and pepper for taste and even sugar to sweeten the sauce a little bit. The third step to making a pizza is choosing your types of cheeses and toppings. Most pizzas use mozzarella, parmesan, and romano cheese. However you can use substitutes like provolone, fontina, feta, monterey jack, or blue cheese that give your pizza a different flavor.

Most stores have pre shredded cheese but if not use a cheese grader to shred your desired cheese. After choosing your cheese you will then pick the toppings on you pizza which could be either meat like ham, sausage, pepperoni, ground beef, italian sausage, chicken, or any other kind of meat you like. For your vegetables you can use onions, green peppers, tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, chilies, and also any other vegetable that you like. To prepare your toppings for the pizza you will need a knife and a cutting board to cut your meat and vegetables into smaller bite size pieces.

Most meats will come packaged in smaller sizes or already ground up but if not just simply cut the pieces into smaller portions. For the vegetables the easiest way to cut them is by dicing them. When dicing a vegetable cut vertical slits all the way down the vegetable and then turn the vegetable on its side and cut where the slit is the deepest. This will make little small cubes of the vegetable which is very delicious on pizza. Now that all of the essential ingredients are prepared for a great pizza you can get on your way to making a pizza.

After gathering all of your prepared ingredients, you will start with the dough again by rolling out the dough, weigh the dough to determine the size and thickness of your crust and then roll it into an even round ball. After that is done compress the dough in a bin of flour to prevent breaks and sticking of the dough. Afterwards roll the dough out until it is at your desired level of thickness and size. Then stretch the dough onto one of your baking sheets. If you want a thicker crust for your pizza uses a pan with a sidewall. It is the same process except after you roll the dough out take your sidewall pan and press the dough into the pan.

It is okay if the dough isn’t completely even in the pan because it will rise evenly when it is baked. After your dough is on or in your pan, the next process is to apply your pizza sauce. Do not apply the sauce right after it has been simmering give it time to cool so it does not melt your cheese. The easiest tool to use for this is a ladle. Use the ladle to apply as much sauce as you desire. After this is done use the bottom of the ladle to spread out the pizza sauce. It is easier to start in the center and create spiraling circles around the dough leaving enough room for crust to form.

After the pizza sauce is spread nice and even, the next step is to apply your cheese and toppings. A lot of pizza makers like to put the parmesan and romano cheese on first and then thicker mozzarella cheese. After the cheese is on there the next step is to apply your toppings. Before you apply your toppings all over the pizza remember when the cheese melts the toppings will slide with the cheese, so be sure to evenly spread your toppings out. After the toppings are spread out on the pizza the next step is to bake it in the oven. First the oven must be preheated to 425 degrees.

Other temperatures may have to be used due to the differences in ovens. After the oven is preheated place your pizza in the oven and let it bake for 15-20 minutes. When the pizza is done it will have a light golden crust. After the pizza is done take it out of the oven. Be sure to use a pair of hot mats or mittens to grab the pizza. Let the pizza cool for about five minutes. After the pizza is done cooling use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the pizza in to slices. After the pizza is cut into slices, serve the pizza on a pan and enjoy.

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How To Make A Pizza Process Essay

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How to Make Pizza, Essay Example

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Pizza is ranked among the popular foods that the world has. It refers to flat bread; round in shape, normally baked with an oven and on top is covered with mozzarella cheese, and tomato sauce. However, it is not necessary to use the afore-mentioned toppings, since they can be done according to personal preference, culture, and religion. In the discussion that follows, the focus is on the process of preparing a pizza.

While preparing a pizza, it is important to know that the steps are very simple, although it is vital to follow them well, in order to get a good product.

Adding yeast

The following is the process of preparing a pizza. Warm water is poured in a mixing bowl, and then sugar is dissolved in it. Next, yeast is added, and like sugar, one should wait until it dissolves. However, yeast is not added at once, but is it added continuously while stirring.

Sugar and water added

The mixture of sugar and water should be left to settle for ten minutes, or even more, in order to allow yeast to become active. More yeast and oil is added when the mixture appears cloudy and foamy on the surface. The two are equally dissolved through stirring.

Adding flour

Next, one should add two cups of flour to the foamy mixture, while stirring and only stop after it has dissolved in it. In order to get perfect results, one should ensure the entire mixture appears smooth. In order to ensure the dry flour is moistened, one should use hands to combine it.

Kneading the mixture

On seeing that all the moisture has absorbed the flour, and it has become a solid mass, one should discard it from the mixing bowl, and place it on a surface with flour in order to knead it properly.

Testing the dough

In order to ensure the dough is kneaded properly, one should fold it in half, and squeeze it repeatedly for around fifteen to twenty minutes. One can tell dough is kneaded well, when it appears into a silky textured ball.

Coat the dough

While in this form, it is time to coat is with a layer of olive oil. Next, the coated dough is placed on the large bowl of mixing, which is as well smeared with olive oil.

Panning the dough

The next step is panning the well-prepared dough of pizza. Many people, who have prepared pizza as challenging, because spreading the dough on the pan determines its eventual shape, have identified this step.

Methods of spreading pizza

In order to get this right, pizza makers have introduced various methods one can use to suit one’s need. Some of the well-known ways include hand tossing pizza, pizza dough pressing, and pizza dough pressing, and lastly pin rolling pizza among others.

Making pizza sauce

After making the pizza, the next step is making a pizza sauce. While at home, it is advisable to use tomato sauce, which has limited amounts of basil and oregano. Some people who eat pizza are even comfortable taking it with less tomato sauce.

Ingredients for a tomato sauce

Notably, tomato sauce is easier to make for a person who is at home. The ingredients to produce a perfect tomato sauce include butter, basil, canned Italian tomatoes, minced yellow onions, black pepper, minced garlic, salt, tomato puree, and olive oil.

Making a tomato sauce

The first step involves melting olive oil with butter in a large oven. Gradually, sauté the onion and garlic. Next, add salt, tomatoes, puree, basil, oregano, and pepper, and leave it to boil. The mixture is then covered and left to keep bubbling for close to two hours. While the mixture is still bubbling, keep stirring. Tomatoes should be crushed using a smasher, and the process should continue until the sauce attains a texture of a soup.

Cooling the sauce

Next, the sauce is put aside in order to cool down, prior to smearing it on the pizza. In the event, the cooling process is not fast, it is advisable to place it in a fridge.

Topping the pizza

Next is the process of pizza topping, which is done by spreading the sauce on the dough surface. While smearing the sauce, a margin should be left on the outer part of the dough in order to allow the crust to crisp and rise easily. Adding the pizza top should be done according to one’s preference.

Baking the pizza

The last step involves baking the pizza. The oven should be heated in advance to 450 0 F for around fifteen to twenty minutes. Following the preheating, the pizza should be placed on the center of the oven. The pan should be placed in such a way that, enough room for circulation of air is allowed. The pizza maker should ensure baking continues at that temperature for almost twenty minutes. Signs to show that the pizza is cooked include cheese melting and beginning to turn brown. In addition, the edge of the crust is brown, and at this stage, one should turn it to confirm the bottom side is equally brown.

Pizza ready

If the afore-mentioned signs are witnessed, the pizza is cooked and ready for consumption.

Evidently, preparation of pizza is a tedious process, and if not followed correctly, one may end up producing a low quality product. Therefore, it advisable for pizza makers to prepare in advance and ensure all the ingredients is in place, to ensure a good product.

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Easy Pizza Recipe From Scratch

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Introduction: Easy Pizza Recipe From Scratch

Easy Pizza Recipe From Scratch

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Step 1: Ingredients

Pizza Dough

  • 1 1/2 cup of Water 100F Degrees (According to your Active dry yeast Instructions)
  • 1 Packet of Active Dry Yeast
  • 3 Tsp Sugar
  • 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 3 1/2 Cups of Flour ( Bread or All Purpose or Half bread and Half All Purpose)
  • Pizza Sauce
  • 1/2 cup of water ( Thicker less water for Thinner more Water)
  • 3 Tbsp Of Tomato Paste
  • 2 Cloves Of Garlic
  • 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
  • 1 Tsp of Oregano flakes
  • 1 Tsp of Black Pepper
  • 1 Tsp of Basil Flakes
  • Dash of Salt
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Grated Mozzarella Cheese

* You can use any toppings you want. A tip if you are using vegetables heat them up in a pan to realease the humidity so you wont get a saggy pizza.

Step 2: Let the Yeast Grow

  • In a bowl pour your 100F Degree Water, Sugar and last your active dry yeast
  • Stir until dissolved.
  • Let The Yeast water sugar rest for 15 minutes
  • Once you see yeast foam is ready to use.

Step 3: Mix Remaining Dry Ingredients

  • Mix Salt And Flour Together

Step 4: Mix All Wet Ingredients

  • Mix Olive oil with the Yeast sugar Water

Step 5: Mix & Knead

  • Mix all the ingredients together wet and dry.
  • If working by hand Knead for 10-15 Minutes ( you can use the envelope method which is pull ,open and close and repeat )
  • If you are using a stand mixer knead for 5-7 Minutes.

Step 6: Let the Dough Rest

  • Make the dough a ball.
  • Use a bowl with space for the dough to double in size.
  • Grease the bowl with oil with your hands or spray.
  • Also grease the ball of dough to prevent a crust from forming when growing.
  • Cover the bowl with a semi wet towel or with plastic wrap.
  • Place the bowl in warm place in your house where there is no light (example. inside kitchen cabinets)
  • Let it rest 45 Minutes to 1 Hour or till it doubles in size.

Step 7: Pizza Sauce

  • Take a pan and heat up the olive oil.
  • smash/mince/dice the garlic cloves and place them in the oil.
  • add the tomato paste.
  • Add Water to desired thickness
  • Add oregano, black pepper, basil and the dash of salt
  • heat up for 3 minutes to 5 minutes
  • Taste , you can add any additional ingredients or more to your tasting (example Parmesan cheese)

Step 8: Pizza Dough

  • Punch out the air from the risen dough.
  • make the dough into a ball.
  • cut into desired amount of pizzas you want.
  • Take your rolling pin or hand and flour them.
  • roll or shape to your desired size and thickness
  • Examples Guide
  • 4 balls = 4 thin medium pan pizzas
  • 3 balls= 3 medium pizzas (regular thickness)
  • 2 balls = 2 large pizzas (regular thickness)

Step 9: Toppings

  • Spray or oil the pizza pan
  • Place the dough in the pan
  • Spread the olive oil on the pizza where the pizza sauce goes
  • Add Pizza Sauce
  • Add Parmesan cheese ( best time to add it so it would not burn, if you want to add it on top you can add after done also so it also wont burn)
  • Add the mozzarella cheese
  • Place the pepperoni to you liking on the pizza
  • Add ingredients to your liking ( remember if using vegetables You can heat them up in a pan to remove its humidity/ water so you wont have a saggy crust)

Step 10: Oven

  • Have your oven at 450F to 500F Degrees at least 10 to 15 before you start placing the pizza .
  • Place your pizza in the oven for 7 -15 Minutes according to the liking of your crust. ( a good tip you can try different crust colors with the various pizzas, and like that you can know which is your best crust for next pizza day)
  • And you are done. Enjoy!

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Informative Speech

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Public Speaking – 10-Minute Informative Speech on Making a Pizza Dough

Public Speaking – 10-Minute Informative Speech on Making a Pizza Dough

I know you had a chance to eat it.

I’m even confident you had a chance at least once to arrange the toppings on one for yourself. But how about making an entire pizza right from the scratch? Yes, that includes the pizza dough – the very soul of every pizza! Now, how can I motivate you to consider this instruction of making a pizza dough as something you may actually put to use sometimes? I know this doesn’t really fit nicely into a standard picture of American way of life, especially because of the time it takes. But if you want to make a difference and impress that special someone, you better go an extra mile.Trust me, it will give you some bragging rights instantly! Let me tell you, it will make a man more man, and a woman more woman, and a man more woman where the woman is missing.

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Now, did I confuse you a little? Good. Now I can start talking about pizza dough, it will seem much less complicated than that. To make a dough, get yourself ready a 3 ? cups of basic bread flour, 1 cup of warm water, 1 packet of active dry yeast, a teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. For baking, you will need a regular oven heated on 475° F, you will not be using your microwave for this.

You’ll need a pizza stone to place pizza onto, and a pizza peel which is a very handy wooden shovel-like tool that helps you place pizza onto a heated stone in your oven and take it away when it’s done. Start off by adding dry yeast to a warm water. Now, tap water is fine, but make sure it’s not hot because yeast is a living organism and hot water may kill it and you wouldn’t get the effect of the yeast developing and doing it’s magic. Dip your finger into the water and if it feels comfortable, then it’s fine.

We’re talking about 110° F max.To this mix you should also add a teaspoon of sugar so that yeast has something “to chew on” and develop. Gently stir the mix, cover it with a kitchen cloth, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Nothing killed you so far, right? Oh, by the way, I should probably tell you that you don’t make pizza from scratch when you get hungry! No, no, no … Like you don’t go to the gym three days before you hit the beach.

Remember, you’re doing something special here, and if it doesn’t take time and patience and a pinch of love (which I forgot to mention in a recipe) then it’s not really special, is it?OK, after letting it be for 10 minutes, the yeast mixture has matured and is now ready to be added to the flour. Sip it very slowly as you mix it gently. You can stir with your fingers assuming you washed your hands, of course. Now you can add salt and Olio Olivo Extra Virgine.

Little by little, the mix will be turning from sticky to a nice fresh dough. If it seems too dry, add a bit more water. If you feel it’s too watery, add more flour. When all the mass from the mixing bowl is now one compact mass, take it out and place it onto a clean tabletop surface – it’s time to kneed!Oh yeah, don’t be shy now, even the big boys do it.

You can close your window if you feel your pride is in danger, but you’ll get the last laugh anyway. To prevent the dough from sticking, sprinkle some flour over the surface and start kneeding with a lower palm of your stronger hand. Press it, fold over, then press again and do that for about 7-8 minutes. You know you’re done when the dough becomes compact and gummy to some extent.

If you press your finger on it, you should see it coming back a little. Shape it now into a ball by tucking it under in order to leave a perfect round sphere shape looking from above.Sprinkle some olive oil on it and rub around uniquely. This will prevent the outer layer from drying up and breaking while rising.

Place it now into a bowl at least twice the size of the dough because that’s how much it will grow as the yeast is giving it a rise. After covering it with a lid or a plastic wrap, set it aside someplace worm for 2 hours. After it has doubled in size, place the dough again on a floury surface. Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough also because it’s still greasy from olive oil.

Now use your fingers to press it gently down into a flat shape, to finally make it look more and more like the pizza crust you want. You can use the rolling pin if you want, but most people just use two hands to stretch it outwards into a thin shape. Just be careful not to overstretch, you don’t need holes in the crust. Help yourself with more flour if the dough is not sliding over the surface.

When done stretching, place it on top of the peel that you also first floured. Again, flouring will prevent pizza from sticking to the peel and not sliding down onto the stone in your oven.And there you have your own pizza dough, ready for baking! Now, here are some tips & tricks that will really make a difference in your pizza that just cannot go unnoticed: TIP 1: The trick is to bake your pizza on the highest temperature (preheat oven to 475° F if possible) to give it a crispy taste and in about 10-15 minutes it’s done. TIP 2: The toppings are really up to your imagination, so be creative.

But if you look into your fridge, you probably have some leftover food that can be used for toppings (some sausages, meatballs, vegies of all sorts, …).Just chop them all up and put them to a good use. TIP 3: While kneeding the dough, sing it a little Rigolleto no. 5 from the Puccini opera to give the dough a little love.

OK, I was kidding. You can skip that part. Finally, I tend to really like whatever food I prepare myself. That’s probably because I’m aware I created it and thus appreciate it that much more.

However, if you think you finally found that special someone, don’t let the pizza-from-the-scratch business be your first try ever.If you want to give it a go, you can make some for yourself or for your family a couple of times and you will learn from certain mistakes that will surely happen here and there. But the respect from your peers should not come into question. I hope you found this instruction useful.

At least you now have a better understanding about the full structure of the meal you have so often and that will likely follow you for the rest of your lives. If you want to fight your calories, you got to know your enemy first, right?

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6 Great Places For Low Carb And Keto-Friendly Pizza

A deep-dish style pizza is laid out in a paper lined pizza box. The slices are hefty, and square shaped. The pie is topped off with marinara sauce, fresh slivers of basil, lots of cheese, and then pretty little "flowers" piped out of ricotta cheese.

Stoney’s Pizza in Huntington Beach

Papa johns in los angeles and orange counties, fresh brothers in los angeles and orange counties, xtra cheese in whittier, pizza man in north hollywood, pizza boy in glendale.

I love cheese and butter, and I swear I could eat a steak for dinner each and every night. I think I naturally align with a keto or low-carb lifestyle. Except the one thing I could never, ever give up is — pizza.

Savvy businesses across Southern California know this, and many have created low-carb or “keto-friendly” pizzas. Are they any good? I decided to find out.

Before I get to the findings, here are a few cautions: I have yet to find a low-carb or keto pizza that really, truly replaces the real thing. None of these pizzas on the list will be confused for a slice of the Margherita at Pizzeria Mozza .

A close up of a pepperoni pizza against the back ground of a blue sky with two palm trees in the background

Instead, the spots on this list will help you scratch that pizza itch without straying from low-carb goals that many of us adhere to as a way to keep blood sugar and weight in check. (Remember that choice of topping makes a difference when you’re carb counting — best to stick to cheese or meat options).

I also gave my test slices some broiling time in the toaster oven before eating, and I had a side of ranch for dipping too. (I figured these faux pizzas could use all the help they could get.) YMMV if you don’t take these extra steps.

Finally, many of these places do not go into great detail about the ingredients in their low-carb crusts. Where the information was available, I included it. If you have a food sensitivity, you might want to do more research before chowing down.

Here are six of the best low-carb and “keto-friendly” pizza options I could find in and around L.A. and Orange County. But I bet I missed some others. If you know of a great place making low-carb pizza, please let me know.

A pizza sits in a pizza box, with one slice missing. The pie is charred and cooked to golden brown. It is covered in alfredo sauce, and topped off with sausages, too.

This was so good that my husband described it as “suspiciously good.” As in, we found ourselves eating as we wondered … could this really be “keto friendly," as stated on the menu? As well as gluten free? Hmmm. Owner Jennifer Kulik said via text that the dough is housemade, and includes cauliflower, zucchini, roasted red peppers “and some other secret ingredients we won’t say.”

This version only comes in a 12-inch pie. I certainly wasn’t fooled into thinking this was the real thing. The texture was a tad chewy, verging on a bit gummy. But the menu — and Kulik — say the entire 12-inch pie crust has only 10 net carbs. A crust that is a little gummy seems like a fair tradeoff when a “real” 12-inch pizza crust could easily pack over 150 grams of carbs.

I ordered the Keto White pizza, with fresh mozzarella, ricotta, romano cheese, oregano and a drizzle of garlic-infused oil. My husband and I wolfed it all down while standing at the kitchen island. No leftovers.

Verdict: Meet my new neighborhood pizza joint. I’m putting in a standing Friday night order.

Price: $13.99 and up, depending upon toppings. Carb count: The 12-inch pizza crust only has 10 net carbs. For the whole thing!

Location: 17210 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach Pickup hours: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, noon to 8 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

A black, rectangular paper tray is sitting on a stone countertop. The tray is holding a mixture of meatballs, pepperoni and slices of sausage, mixed in with peppers, tomatoes, onions and lots and lots of cheese.

This almost didn't make the list because ... it's not actually a pizza. There's no attempt to fake a crust here. This is just about Papa Johns pizza toppings served up in a bowl . I tried the chicken alfredo, and the Italian Meats Trio, made with sausage, meatballs, pepperoni, bell peppers and onions. It absolutely hit the spot, even as I still wished for some kind of crust. So here’s what we did: We made our own pizzas using low-carb tortillas.

Here's how to do it: Find a low-carb or keto tortilla of your choice. Toast it up just a bit in the oven, slather on some of the Papa Bowl as your toppings and then finish it off under the broiler with a little more cheese on top. DIY low-carb tortilla pizzas. You're welcome.

Verdict: I know there will be people who turn their noses up at this chain known for bargain-basement pizzas. But if you’re trying to stick to low-carb goals, then this Papa Bowl can help keep you on track.

Price: $8.49 Carb Count: 15 grams for the entire bowl (which seems far too rich for one person to eat in one sitting, so… leftovers!).

Locations: Throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties Hours: Vary according to location

A pizza pie is placed in a pizza box, with white protective paper placed beneath it.

Fresh Brothers is a fast-casual pizza chain that emphasizes fresh ingredients and a healthier bent. Wings are baked, not fried, for example. And the salads are ah-mazing . The menu says they offer a keto crust, but I couldn’t find one in the area and I was told by a server in Irvine that they no longer do keto crusts.

But Fresh Bros. does make a “skinny dough,” and their website says these clock in at 14 grams of net carbs for two slices. There is also a personal 7-inch pizza crust that only has 20 grams of net carbs for the whole thing, and that can easily be shared with two people, so two slices apiece. (Of course, I’d rather eat the whole thing myself, but two slices of pizza for 10 net grams is not bad!) So that earned Fresh Bros. a spot on this list. I ordered the Charcotta, seen here, with double pepperoni, ricotta, mozzarella and parm and then a personal size pizza, half pepperoni and half sausage.

Verdict: Would absolutely order again. I think a great dinner would be splitting a salad such as the California Caprese or simple green salad and spliting a personal pizza heaped with low-carb toppings. That would absolutely scratch the pizza itch.

Price: $9.49 and up, depending upon the toppings Carb count: 10-14 net carb per two slices

Locations: 24 outlets across Southern California Hours: Vary by location
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Xtra Cheese in Whittier is known for its Halal Detroit-style pizzas — and for piling on the cheese. If you like thick-sliced pizza, you are going to love this place. They offer up 8 x 10” slabs of low-carb crust pizza just dripping with cheese. In fact, the cheese-y burnt edges are a selling point. I was never fooled into thinking this was the real thing, The thick slab keto dough might be too doughy and dense for some, and it’s also a slightly purplish to light gray color, almost like kalamata olive bread. But, overall, it did hit the spot.

This place is also known for its inventive toppings, including piped ricotta flowers. There's the street taco pizza (carne asada, jalapeno, radishes and creamy cilantro drizzle), the shawarma pizza (chicken shawarma and pickled turnips topped with garlic sauce), the cheeseburger (ground beef, pickles and American cheese) and the chipotle shrimp (shrimp and a spicy chipotle cream sauce), among others. If you want to drool, scroll through their IG feed .

Price: $25.99 and up. Pricey, but you will have leftovers because the pie is so huge. Carbs: Not available on the website

Location: 16170 Leffingwell Rd., Whittier Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 9 p.m.

Not sure you can beat this deal at Pizza Man for an L.A. pizza that advertises itself as keto: $17 for a small pie, with up to six toppings of your choice, not including the cheese and sauce.

We ordered a simple sausage and onion pie from this no-frills spot that also serves salads, pastas, wings, sandwiches and more, making it a nice option for group ordering (as it allows you to stick to your low-carb game plan while everyone else can also get exactly what they want). Some of their specialty pizzas include the Mediterranean, with feta and basil, the BBQ chicken, the buffalo chicken, and the chicken alfredo, all available on keto crusts.

The verdict: Would happily order it again. Split a keto pie and a salad for a Friday night meal that won’t lead to a carb hangover in the morning.

Price: $17 and up, depending upon toppings Carbs: Not available on the website

Location: 10940 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood Hours: Daily, 11 a.m. to midnight

A pizza sits in a pizza box lined with a protective white paper. The pizza is topped off with a creamy Alfredo cheese sauce, with mushrooms and slivers of chicken poking through. The crust, which is charred in spots and golden brown, is textured: That's because it's made of a chicken paste.

Can you get more low-carb than zero carbs? No, you cannot. Pizza Boy in Glendale makes several keto-friendly pizzas, including a pizza crust made out of chicken. Yep, chicken. Other available low-carb crust options include zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, almond flour and coconut flour crusts, plus many more for those with food sensitivities.

We ordered the chicken alfredo version and TBH, the chicken crust was a little strong-tasting, and it verged on being a bit crumbly. But then I reminded myself that I couldn’t judge it against the real thing … and we ate it all. This place is serious about keto pizzas, and offers up an attractive variety including a BBQ chicken, chicken alfredo, and feta and sujuk versions as well as build-your-own options.

The verdict: Chicken crust is not for me, but it could be for you if you are dedicated to a low-carb lifestyle. I was impressed at the lengths this place goes to for people looking for alt-pizzas.

Price: $23.49 and up, depending upon the toppings Carbs: Zero carb crust, so ultimate carb count depends upon your toppings

Location: 1321 E. Colorado St., Glendale Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Sunday 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

A smaller, mostly empty bottle of Sriracha and a larger, mostly full bottle sit behind two rows of clear used condiment cups.

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critic’s notebook

A Hollywood Remake of Your Fast Food Memories

In Los Angeles, the restaurant Chain taps into a feverish nostalgia for burgers and pizza from the 20th century.

Chain is a regular pop-up in Los Angeles that finds inspiration in the archive of American fast food, recreating nostalgic dishes and designs. Credit... Chain Brands Inc.

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By Tejal Rao

Tejal Rao, Food’s critic at large, recently revisited Pizza Hut and its personal pan pizzas only to find that they’d changed, or she had.

  • April 12, 2024 Updated 10:14 a.m. ET

The air smelled of yeast and cheese and weed, and though what I had in front of me looked like a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut, it was in fact a more expensive dupe.

Some of the original pizza’s flaws had been airbrushed and overwritten, as in a favorite childhood memory. No veins of raw dough, no discouraging sweat of vegetable oil.

The best qualities of the original were exaggerated in a buttery, gold-washed bottom and a fine, crackly edge, draped with a light brown confetti of cheese. The puff and fluff of the dough were doubled, bubbly and weightless.

What’s hard to explain is why this pizza — this impostor pizza — felt more like a Pizza Hut pizza than the source material.

The chef Tim Hollingsworth made it for what he called “Pizza Haute,” one of the meticulous themed dinners he cooks at Chain in Los Angeles, a regular pop-up that considers American fast food with an almost scholarly attention, exalting the genre with rigorous cooking and presentation.

Three pan pizzas on a paper-lined tray, covered with sliced mushrooms, red onion, green peppers and pepperoni.

Chain doesn’t specialize in the forensic trompe l’oeils of fine dining — those baroque lemon-flavored desserts made to look like real lemons until you cut into them, revealing layers of cream and cake. No, this is pizza disguised as, well, also pizza.

It’s a different kind of illusion: a restaurant that isn’t really a restaurant, selling fast food that isn’t really fast food? And it sent me — a person who isn’t really a person? — into a spiral. Was Chain celebratory and nostalgic or cynical and manipulative? Was it a marketing stunt, a performance piece or a loving rewrite of our culinary vernacular? Was it an indulgent dip into the past or a glimpse into the future?

Chain’s menus change, sometimes mashing together brands into a super-lineup. This particular set meal was $75 a person, which got you cocktails in red Solo cups, plenty and possibly even unlimited wine, a relic of a salad bar and an ice cream station stocked with actual blocks of Hunka Chunka PB Fudge and Butter Crunch from Friendly’s , flown in from the East Coast.

The actor B.J. Novak dreamed up Chain as a cheffy homage to chain foods. It first popped up in parking lots and alleys in 2020, and was later run out of a house in West Hollywood. In its earliest days, Chain might have seemed like a direct response to the darkness of the pandemic, anticipating the regression of taste that tends to follow very bad news — that reliable surge in orders for buttered noodles, chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, ice cream sundaes.

Another way to look at it was Hollywood solving for the risk of the restaurant business, getting a talented chef to adapt existing culinary I.P. — the McRib , the Crunchwrap Supreme , the Bacon King — in the way a director might work a film around Barbie .

In January, Chain and its magnificent collection of vintage fast-food tchotchkes moved to a larger space in Virgil Village , where it remains one of the city’s hardest tables to land. (Chain has hosted about 100 sold-out events since it started, and the waiting list, which you join by request via text message, is 25,000 names long.)

“We don’t like to think of ourselves as a restaurant,” said Nicholas Kraft, one of Chain’s founders. It’s true that it’s both more ethereal than a restaurant and more established than a pop-up. And though it’s not an Instagram museum , it has the qualities of a fictional corporation’s immersive experience.

Ruth De Jong, a production designer who recently worked on “Nope” and “Oppenheimer,” helped devise the look, jumbling together a vintage Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders vibe with ’90s arcade and video games and slick original design: curvy green lettering and red banquettes, elaborate plastic menus and self-referential poster ads. The effect is both jarring and sumptuous — a fast-food multiverse that seems to have always existed.

Before going, I worried that Chain would feel like a pantomime, mocking the restaurants it referenced and the people who loved them. But there was a warmth to the place, a clear affection for the subject and its hard-wired pleasures. As I waited for the buzzer I’d been handed to flash, telling me the pizzas were ready to pick up, I gripped it too tightly. The anxiety of missing the notification — the thrill when it buzzed! — was all very, very real.

Mr. Hollingsworth used a childhood memory as a reference point for the pizza dinner: the night he was stuck in a Pizza Hut in Houston during a flash flood. But like everyone there, I brought my own set of references. By the end of the night, it felt as if I’d gone to an eccentric billionaire’s party for which he’d painstakingly recreated his last birthday from the summer before his parents’ divorce. The thoroughness. The precision. The sublimation of heartbreak and longing.

Mr. Hollingsworth has a serious fine-dining background — he was chef de cuisine at the French Laundry for years and now runs Otium in Los Angeles. But he resists all fussiness — no miniaturization, no textural transmutation, no construction that would make the dish unrecognizable. This is why it works. The food is chef-driven, technically, but the chef knows how to disappear.

Fancy remakes of fast food aren’t new, but they’re rarely collaborations assisting the company’s own branding efforts. In a mind-bending ouroboros of marketing, Pizza Hut sponsored the pizza dinner at Chain, which doubled as promotion for the company’s steak-topped pizza. The food was an ad — for the food, which was also an ad.

But not all the dishes are sponsored, and so far Chain hasn’t provoked any corporate lawyers. For fun, Mr. Hollingsworth recently served a menu he called “The Comeback Combo,” inspired by beloved, discontinued stuff. It included beef-tallow fries, reminiscent of the ones McDonald’s made until 1990, when the company switched to vegetable oil. He also made a look-alike of the Bell Beefer, a loose-meat sandwich from Taco Bell’s early menus.

A recent Instagram post on Chain’s account asked followers to chime in with the foods they missed — retired, hard to find, coming and going with the shifts in our industrially regulated seasons.

People longed for the 7-Layer Burritos at Taco Bell and the actually fried apple pies from McDonald’s. They missed Popeyes’s Cajun rice, KFC’s popcorn chicken, Wendy’s stuffed pitas and the Olive Garden’s chicken Alfredo pizza.

It was an exercise in audience engagement that surfaced artifacts worth chasing, a look into the past and future. Here was the bottomless breadbasket of ideas, the inexhaustible canon of American chain food, I.P. surviving in a blur of memory and marketing, that could be excavated and remade forever. The nostalgia — the menus it would write, if you let it — was boundless.

Follow New York Times Cooking on Instagram , Facebook , YouTube , TikTok and Pinterest . Get regular updates from New York Times Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice .

Tejal Rao is a critic at large. She writes about food and culture for The Times and contributes regularly to The New York Times Magazine. More about Tejal Rao

A Guide for Pizza Lovers

New Haven has long been known as a pizza town . Can the city’s legendary pizza joints play on the national stage?

With a new breed of portable ovens and an anything-goes spirit, New York’s pizzaiolos are turning out impressive pies at pop-ups in bars, breweries and other surprising venues .

Pan pizza is the recipe you never knew you needed; get your cast iron ready for the deep-dish pie of your dreams .

The reheated, foldable, portable slice is one of New York City’s quintessential eats. This is how it gained that status .

Kenji López-Alt spent five months studying Chicago thin-crust pizza. Here is what he learned .

Don’t own a pizza oven? Cooking pizza on the grill is one of the easiest ways to get a restaurant-quality pie at home .

A team of four hungry New York Times staff members put four four frozen pizzas to the test. This is how they fared .

Our readers offered their hacks  to gussy up a frozen pizza and tips to make it from scratch.

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  1. Pizza from Scratch Recipe: How to Make It

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  2. How to Make Pizza from Scratch (with Pictures)

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  3. Pizza from Scratch Recipe: How to Make It

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  4. Homemade Pizza Recipe (from scratch)

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  5. How to Make Pizza From Scratch

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  6. How to make the best pizza from scratch

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VIDEO

  1. How to make Homemade Pizza From Scratch

  2. The Best Homemade Pizza You'll Ever Eat

  3. How To Make Homemade Pizza from SCRATCH

  4. HOW TO MAKE A HOMEMADE PIZZA EASY!

  5. HOW TO MAKE PIZZA AT HOME

  6. How to Make Perfect Pizza

COMMENTS

  1. How to Make Pizza from Scratch (with Pictures)

    Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (230 degrees Celsius). Allow the oven to preheat for at least 30 minutes or up to 60 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a pizza stone or round baking sheet by coating it with a fine, even layer of cornmeal or flour. 2. Flatten and shape the dough.

  2. Homemade Pizza

    Make the dough the morning of, or 1 to 2 days before pizza night. Add flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. In a glass measuring cup, warm 2 cups of water in the microwave for 1 minute. Add the yeast, honey and olive oil to the water and mix with a fork, let sit 5 minutes.

  3. NYT Cooking

    In a large mixing bowl, combine flours and salt. In a small mixing bowl, stir together 200 grams (a little less than 1 cup) lukewarm tap water, the yeast and the olive oil, then pour it into flour mixture. Knead with your hands until well combined, approximately 3 minutes, then let the mixture rest for 15 minutes.

  4. The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Making Pizza at Home

    Set a rack in the top third of your oven and set an inverted baking sheet on the rack. Preheat the oven as high as it will go. When your pizza and your oven are ready, add your pizza to the pan and then switch on your oven's broiler. This cooks the pizza from all sides with the highest heat your oven can produce.

  5. Homemade Pizza & Pizza Dough Recipe

    Make and knead the pizza dough: Add the flour, salt, sugar, and olive oil, and using the mixing paddle attachment, mix on low speed for a minute. Then replace the mixing paddle with the dough hook attachment. Knead the pizza dough on low to medium speed using the dough hook about 7-10 minutes.

  6. Homemade Pizza Dough for Beginners

    After about 30 minutes, close the oven door to trap the air inside with the rising dough. When it's doubled in size, remove from the oven.) Preheat oven to 475°F (246°C). Allow it to heat for at least 15-20 minutes as you shape the pizza. (If using a pizza stone, place it in the oven to preheat as well.)

  7. How to Make and Form Pizza Dough: A Step-by-Step Guide

    Step 2: Make a Well in the Center of the Dough In the bowl containing the flour and salt, make a well in the center and add the yeast. Tip: If the yeast doesn't foam, check the expiration date and ...

  8. 10 Tips And Tricks For Making Restaurant-Quality Pizza At Home

    8. Let your pizza oven or pizza stone get hot, hot, hot. The key to a nice, charred crust and evenly cooked pizza is a hot oven. Most people don't have a restaurant-style pizza oven, but that's OK. Just buy a pizza stone and let it preheat in a 500-500 conventional oven for about an hour.

  9. Homemade Pizza Recipe (from scratch)

    Let it rise for an hour or until it doubles in size. Punch down the dough to remove the trapped air, then transfer it back to a lightly floured work surface and divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Use your hand to push the dough from the center and then maintain a circular shape.

  10. How to make homemade pizza from scratch: a complete guide

    Method: Crumble the yeast into the tepid water, then add the sugar and a drizzle of olive oil. Mix well, then leave for 5 minutes to activate the yeast. Add the flour to a large bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture, then mix with a spoon and then your hands until the mixture comes together.

  11. Easy Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe

    To make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, add the water, yeast, sugar, salt, and olive oil. Allow mixture to stand for 5 minutes. Add one cup of flour, and mix to combine. Add another cup of flour and mix through. Mix by hand for 1 or 2 minutes. The dough should be the consistency of cake batter.

  12. How to Make Pizza at Home

    Shape the dough, brush one side with oil and cook, oil-side down, over medium-high with the lid closed until firm. Add more oil to the top, flip and then add the toppings. Reduce the heat to ...

  13. Homemade Pizza in less than an hour!

    Set your oven to 500 degrees. Set the rack on the lowest setting. Measure out a cup of warm tap water and stir in the sugar, the oil, and the yeast. Let sit for a few minutes. Put the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Give the flour and salt a quick mix to combine.

  14. Homemade Pizza Recipe: How to Make It

    Directions. In large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in water; let stand for 5 minutes. Add oil and salt. Stir in flour, 1 cup at a time, until a soft dough forms. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 2-3 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled ...

  15. How To Make A Pizza Process Essay Example

    After the pizza is done take it out of the oven. Be sure to use a pair of hot mats or mittens to grab the pizza. Let the pizza cool for about five minutes. After the pizza is done cooling use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the pizza in to slices. After the pizza is cut into slices, serve the pizza on a pan and enjoy.

  16. How to Make Pizza, Essay Example

    The first step involves melting olive oil with butter in a large oven. Gradually, sauté the onion and garlic. Next, add salt, tomatoes, puree, basil, oregano, and pepper, and leave it to boil. The mixture is then covered and left to keep bubbling for close to two hours. While the mixture is still bubbling, keep stirring.

  17. Easy Pizza Recipe From Scratch : 10 Steps (with Pictures

    Step 7: Pizza Sauce. Take a pan and heat up the olive oil. smash/mince/dice the garlic cloves and place them in the oil. add the tomato paste. stir. Add Water to desired thickness. Add oregano, black pepper, basil and the dash of salt. heat up for 3 minutes to 5 minutes.

  18. The Best Homemade Pizza You'll Ever Eat

    Get the recipe for the best homemade pizza: https://www.buzzfeed.com/marietelling/pizza-dough-recipe?utm_term=.ioz4kpD7lA#.lsDMVvejlWKiano teaches us how to ...

  19. 10-Minute Informative Speech on Making a Pizza Dough

    Now I can start talking about pizza dough, it will seem much less complicated than that. To make a dough, get yourself ready a 3 ? cups of basic bread flour, 1 cup of warm water, 1 packet of active dry yeast, a teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. For baking, you will need a regular oven heated on 475° F, you ...

  20. How to Make Easy Homemade Pizza Dough from pizzatherapy.com

    http://pizzatherapy.com/sq.htm Get a free copy of the World Famous Pizza Dough Recipe and other recipes.Visit our the Pizza Therapy Store: http://pizzather...

  21. Essay about Pizza: History of a Beloved Dish

    The Queen demanded to have them cooked some traditional food of the area, this was when she was given three different types of pizza. The first included cheese of horse milk, and basil. The second included whitebait, and the third was with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. The queen was completely shocked about how exquisite the dish was.

  22. HOW TO MAKE PIZZA AT HOME

    How To Make Pizza At Home - For those of us in Nigeria we know Chicken Suya Pizza is A THING! LOL. If you want to learn how to make this delicious Pizza, ple...

  23. 6 Great Places For Low Carb And Keto-Friendly Pizza

    Papa Johns in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Fresh Brothers in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Xtra Cheese in Whittier. Pizza Man in North Hollywood. Pizza Boy in Glendale. I love cheese and ...

  24. Impostor Pizza Hut, KFC and McDonald's ...

    The actor B.J. Novak dreamed up Chain as a cheffy homage to chain foods. It first popped up in parking lots and alleys in 2020, and was later run out of a house in West Hollywood.

  25. Foodie Fridays with New Jersey's Bucky's Pizza

    NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) — Bucky's Pizza has granted New Jersey the reputation of having "real good pizza." The owner, Domenick Calise, is said to have spent a year perfecting …