I made it a personal mission to make yummy homemade pizzas. I failed for years. I have made about 50 disgusting pizzas over the last 6 years, and yet I have persevered. Piece by piece I have discovered a few secrets of my own. It still doesn't taste like Kaleidoscope Pizza, but for a home job, I have improved my pizza by leaps and bounds. Now we eat them every Friday night for diner. I am willing to share what works for me. I will gladly put them out there (perhaps they aren't big secrets to the rest of the world, but to me it has made all the difference) with hopes that someone will share the things that work for them as well. For the pizza: (1) use a pizza stone and get it super hot (500 degrees plus) before placing the dough on it. (2) bake the pizza on the bottom rack so it is close to that super hot bake element. (3) I bake one side (just the dough) until it turns golden or browns on the top. Then I take it out and put the sauce, cheese, and toppings on the side that cooked directly on the pizza stone. I wish I could put the whole pizza in, sauce, cheese, toppings and all, but I haven't been successful at getting the crispy crunch I like without this step. (4) use sliced provolone as the cheese. It gives it that pizzeria taste and makes a big difference to me. Bake the pizza until the cheese turns a golden color. (5) After the pizza has baked, place the pizza on a cooling rack so that the crust doesn't steam itself soggy from sitting on a counter-top. I like to use the following pizza dough recipe: 2 cups water, 1 Tbsp yeast, 1 Tbsp sugar, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 4-5 cups of flour.
1. Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl and dissolve the yeast with the sugar. Stir with a fork. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
2. Add the oil and salt. Add the flour a little bit at a time until a dough forms, being careful not to add to much, making the dough stiff and tough. (Dough should be tacky by not so sticky that it can't be handled). Knead dough with mixer for 8 minutes or 12 minutes if kneading by hand.
3. Remove the dough from the bowl and lube up the sides of the bowl with some olive oil to prevent sticking while rising. Covered with a moist kitchen towel or lightly greased plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until double in bulk. (I turn the oven onto 'warm' while I make the dough then turn it off and place the bowl in the warm oven to speed up the rising time).
4. Roll dough out into desired size and shape. (This recipe usually makes 4 round pizzas that fit my stone, but you could also do individual-sized pizzas.) Pull the stone out of the oven and slap on the dough. (I don't have a pizza peel so I just bare the frustration of floppy dough.)
5. Bake the rolled dough on the pizza stone until top side of dough browns a bit (about 3 minutes). Flip the pizza crust over and put sauce, cheese, and toppings on the side that was in contact with the stone. Bake until cheese browns on top.
If you have any pizza tips, PLEASE share.
