The following instructions should make it easier for you to start your life as a hobby pizzaiuolo. Have you ever wondered what kinds of tricks the pizza professionals in Naples use? Then you've access the right blog! It's always been said that you should start small. The foundation must be right; only then can you continuously improve through practice and experimentation. I would like to give you the basics here. Because baking a mediocre pizza is quite easy. baking a perfect pizza is... just as easy. As long as you follow the rules below.
To start with, I would like to introduce you to the world of the pizzaiuolo using the example of the Margherita pizza. A simple and popular pizza. My favourite pizza! You make the dough yourself. Say goodbye to the ready-made dough from the supermarket.
The Perfect Pizza Dough
For the pizza dough you need 4 ingredients:
- Flour
- Water
- Salt
- Yeast
Do you want to know how the perfect pizza dough comes together? Let us do the work. We'll calculate the exact amount of each ingredient for you.
Flour
In Italy, pizza dough is kneaded with type 00 flour. This flour is the same as white flour type 550 used in Germany or Switzerland. Don't spend too long looking for Tipo 00 flour, because it doesn't change the result or the quality of the pizza. You can find more information on the different types of flour here.
Water
You can use tap water or mineral water. It does not matter as long as the tap water does not contain chlorine. The yeast does not like chlorine and will not survive a bath in chlorinated water for long.
Salt
The salt protects the dough from bacteria and gives the pizza dough its unique taste. Nobody likes a bland pizza! I mainly use sea salt for the pizza dough because it is richer in minerals and trace elements. However, it works just as well with table salt. It doesn't matter whether you use sea salt or table salt.
Yeast
The yeast plays an important role. It activates the fermentation and ensures that the dough becomes light and airy. You can use fresh yeast or dry yeast. The amount to be used differs. Do you want to know how much yeast you need? Use our Pizza Dough Calculator. You will also notice that we have added olive oil and sugar to the pizza dough calculator. Is that really necessary?
Feel free to add sugar and olive oil if you want to bake your pizza in an oven that reaches a maximum of 250 degrees. The sugar gives the dough a nice colour. However, the low amount indicated does not affect the fermentation. Olive oil is helpful to prevent the pizza dough from drying out in the oven and to keep it airy and supple.
Tomato Sauce
Pelati or Passata? Doesn't matter. As long as the tomatoes used are of good quality. You can salt the passata lightly and spread it directly on the pizza. You can also salt the pelati lightly and crush it by hand. An apron is recommended to avoid staining your favourite shirt or T-shirt. Watch out for splatters!
Mozzarella
When choosing mozzarella, it all comes down to taste. Many people swear by mozzarella di bufala. Personally, I find the buffalo mozzarella tasty, but much too watery for the pizza. You risk the pizza base becoming mushy because the topping is too moist. I recommend the commercial mozzarella from Galbani. You can do without the so-called Fior di Latte Mozzarella, which is the name of the commercial mozzarella in Italy.
Want to get started right away? Click here for the recipe:
