It is known that pizza is one of the most dishes popular and love in the whole world, not only in a contry like Italy, for example, so today I have compiled a list of common pizza ingredients:
The cheese
If you will be covering your pizza with a layer of cheese, use a cheese or blend of cheeses with low moisture. While cheddar is absolutely delicious, it burns easily at high temperatures, and is not appropriate for a pizza unless you blend it with something else. Some good pizza cheeses, in order of blander to more flavorful:
- Mozzarella
- Provolone
- Asagio
- Fontina
- Parmesan
- Romano
- Chevre (Goat Cheese)
- Feta
- Gorgonzola, Bleu (in moderation!)
The best avenue is to blend some of the above cheeses together. Caution: parmesan, romano, chevre, and feta are all quite salty, and gorgonzola and bleu are not for the weak.
You could also try to use no cheese! Seriously, some of the best pizzas I've ever eaten had no cheese on them - try a pizza with apricot sauce, artichokes, and mushrooms (ala Trader Joe's). Or, you could try a pizza with garlic butter, thinly-sliced new potatoes, pancetta (or bacon), and capers. Yum!
Use flavorful cheese as if it were a spice. Flavorful cheeses - such as gorgonzola, Bleu cheese, goat cheese, feta, and brie - work well on pizza in sparse quantities.
The sauce
- Marinara (of course)
- Melted butter with parsley
- Melted butter with garlic, rosemary, and basil
- Pesto
- Olive paste
The toppings
Fresh Vegetables
Bell peppers (all colors, especially red)
Onions, red or white
Roasted eggplant
Cooked asparagus
Cooked broccoli or cauliflower
Spinach leaves
Sliced mushrooms (go with portabellas!)
Zucchini & yellow squash
Tubers
New potatoes (those litte red potatoes)
Yucca root
Yams (i.e. "tropical yams")
Sweet Potatoes
Namé (purple potato)
Fruits
Thinly-sliced tomatoes
Pineapple chunks
Apricot chunks
Mango chunks
Fresh halved rasperries
Canned / pickled stuff
Black and green olives
Kalamata olives
Artichoke hearts (quartered or halved)
Capers
Canned corn
Pickled sliced jalapenos
Baby corn
Meat
Cured / salted meats
Pepperoni
Salami
Prosciutto
Bacon / Pancetta
Ham / Canadian Bacon
Italian sausage
Fresh terrestrial meats
Ground beef
Pulled chicken
Shredded pork (loin)
Steak strips
Sliced roasted beef
Fresh seafood
Jumbo shrimp
White fish (such as tilapia or cod)
Oysters
The fun part is coming up with a sauce, cheese, and topping combination that you and yours will enjoy!
Make the dough
This recipe will make enough dough for 2 large pizzas, 1 large pizza and two small pizzas, or 3 medium pizzas.
- 1 1/2 Cups - Warm Water (not hot!)
- 2 Tbsp. - Sugar
- 1 Envelope - Active Dry Yeast (not the quick kind)
- 2 Tsp. - Salt
- 4 Tbsp. - Olive Oil
- 4 Cups - Flour (whole wheat or all-purpose for thinner dough; bread flour for thicker, chewier dough)
Combine the water, sugar, and yeast packet in a large (large!) bowl. Allow the yeast to "proof" (show that it is alive) by letting it sit for 10 minutes. If you see a tan-colored foam form at the top, you're in business. If not, go back to the store and buy some fresh yeast... there is no point in continuing.
Now, add the salt and the olive oil. Next, add one cup of flour at a time, using a whisk, large fork, or hard spatula to thoroughly combine the mixture.
After you have added all 4 cups of flour, the kneading begins. To knead, use your hands to fold the dough ball in half over and over. Use your palm to smash the ball together, then fold it in half and smash it together again. If the ball becomes sticky, add a little more flour. The ball should not stick to the side of the bowl, but it should not be dry and cracking, either.
Once you have kneaded the dough for about 5 minutes, drizzle a little oil over it and place it in a new, clean bowl. Spread the oil over it by using your hands. Cover this bowl with plastic wrap or a wet towel, and place it in a warm place (such as an unlit oven or sunny countertop). The dough will now rise as the yeast produces carbon dioxide; this and the alcohols produced by the yeast will improve the texture, flavor, and elasticity of the dough. You will need to leave the dough in this place until it nearly doubles in size, which should be about 40 minutes to an hour.
Prepare toppings while the dough rises
At this point, you should use the rising / chilling time to slice, dice, and pre-cook any ingredients that you may be putting on the pizza. It is important that you pre-cook any meats that would not be safe to eat raw before you put them on a pizza. These meats include (but are not limited to) beef, sausage, chicken, and pork. This is also a good time to cook any tough vegetables, such as asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, or eggplant. Basically, get everything ready to go so that when you have the crust shaped.
Source: yahoo
By: Samia
