How to make pizza

Pizza

If you like ordering pizza from your local pizzeria, you'll love making it at home. No pizza will ever taste as fresh as it does when you eat it straight from your own oven. This article gives instructions on how to make hot, fresh pizza the fast way, or from scratch. Scroll to the bottom for a section on popular toppings combinations.

Ingredients

Pizza

• pizza base
• Pizza sauce
• Favorite pizza toppings
• Grated mozzarella cheese

Pizza from Scratch

• 1 1/2 cup of warm water
• 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast
• 3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour (bread or all-purpose)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 cups of homemade pizza sauce
• Favorite pizza toppings
• 4 cups of grated mozzarella cheese
• Cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons of salt

Popular Toppings

• Grated cheese (mozzarella, romano, parmesan, goat cheese or some combination)
• Sliced pepperoni
• Chopped onions
• Green peppers
• Sausage
• Bacon or bacon bits
• Chicken chunks
• Olives (Black, green, or stuffed)
• Mushrooms
• Ground beef
• Ham pieces
• Pineapple slices
• Basil
• Roasted garlic
• Barbecue chicken

 Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit (204°Celsius). The oven should be piping hot before you start cooking the pizza.
 Prepare the crust. Remove the unbaked crust from the packaging. Place it on a round or rectangular baking sheet, depending on what you have on hand. Use a pastry brush to spread a thin coating of olive oil over the top of the crust.
 Spread pizza sauce on the crust. How much pizza sauce you add is purely a matter of personal preference. If you love a lot of sauce, go ahead and slather it on. If you prefer your pizza on the dry side, spoon a little in the middle and spread it around in a thin layer. If you want to make a white pizza, add a little extra olive oil and skip the pizza sauYou can make a quick pizza sauce using tomato paste, a can of diced tomatoes, and some spices. Simmer the paste and tomatoes (without draining them first) together over low heat. Add salt, oregano and pepper to taste. Continue simmering until the sauce cooks down to the consistency of pizza sauce.

Add toppings. Layer your favorite toppings over the sauce. Add as many or as few toppings as you want. Put the heavier toppings, like onions, chicken or sausage, on the bottom layer, and add lighter toppings, like spinach leaves or peppers, on the top layer. Continue until your pizza is loaded with the amount of toppings you like.Other than pepperoni and ham which are pre-cooked, meat toppings should always be cooked before you put them on the pizza. They'll get heated when you bake the pizza, but they won't fully cook. If you're using ground beef, sausage, chicken, or another meat, cook it thoroughly in a pan on the stove or in the oven and drain the grease before you add it to your pizza.Remember that if you add too many vegetable toppings, your pizza crust may turn out a little soggy. The water from the vegetables moistens the dough. Limit the amount of spinach and other "watery" vegetables you put on your pizza if you're worried about this happening.

 Add the cheese. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the toppings. Layer it on thick if you like it that way, or add a thin layer if you're going for a lighter pizza. Use Cheddar if you like.

Bake the pizza. Place the pizza in the oven and have it bake for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for a few minutes before slicing.