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Want to learn how to make Italian pizza at home? In case a holiday in Italy is not in the cards for you yet, I am sharing a quick and easy pizza recipe to make this awesome crowd pleaser at home.
I thought I would do my part to keep you entertained at home and finally share my famed pizza recipe. This way you can pass the time if you are in yet another lockdown or are planning an awesome pizza party to reunite with all your friends. A secret family recipe for centuries (just kidding!) is about to be revealed.
While I would never claim that I make an authentic Italian pizza, I dare to say mine is pretty damn good. I learned this skill many years ago from my aunt in South Africa. My aunt isn’t Italian either but honestly who cares? Her pizza is amazing and she doesn’t mind sharing her wisdom. While I have eaten quite a few nice pizzas in Italy I have also found the best pizza of my life in Thailand, generally like a Pizza Hawaii, and don’t take this whole authenticity thing too seriously. Please don’t hate me, dear Italians!
Trust me or not, but I make a damn fine pizza and you can too.
Homemade pizza recipe a la Annika
Making homemade pizza is super impressive but still incredibly easy. You won’t actually need a recipe for it (unless you are my ex-boyfriend but he was ‘special’ when it came to cooking so we shan’t take his word for it), however, if you make the dough for the first time it is nice to have a guideline.
- 500 g flour – I use either regular wheat flour or sometimes spelt flour for a bit of crunch (and because I like to think that it makes the pizza soo much healthier!). If you wanted to be fancy you can use special Italian pizza flour but honestly, I don’t think it is necessary so simply use what you have – just make sure it is not self-raising.
- 10g of dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- Salt
- 1,5 cups of warm water – not hot!!
These are the basics. But and I can’t stress this enough – I never use a recipe and just go with my gut. While it is called pizza baking it is not baking in that you need to measure ingredients down to the gram.
Italian pizza recipe – How to make the dough
Mix about 300 g of the flour and the rest of the dry ingredients in a bowl and slowly add the water to make a dough. For now, your dough is going to be quite liquid and you don’t need to worry about lumps yet. To help the yeast rise you can either cover it with a cloth and put in a warm place or use a sealed bowl and put it in a sink with hot water.
How long does the dough need to rise? That is the question! My brother argues his dough gets better the longer it has time to rise. I, on the other hand, made the best pizza of my life the other day when speeding up the dough-rising by putting the bowl in a pre-heated oven (no more than 50 degrees Celsius) for literally just half an hour because I was in a rush.
See how much time you have but don’t worry if you don’t have hours to spare.
Once the dough has doubled in size add the rest of the flour and knead a smooth dough. Let it rest again for a bit. Perfect time to prepare the rest of your ingredients.
Tomato Sauce for Italian Pizzas
There are many great pre-made options for a tomato base for your pizza these days. Personally, if I have the time I like to make my own. No recipe for this one but I chop about 4 fresh tomatoes, slice 2 cloves of garlic, and chop an onion. All this goes into an ovenproof form with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and sugar into the oven. I roast it until the tomatoes are a bit charred and take them out to cool. Afterward, blend it all together in a Nutribullet or with a blender or use a masher to smooth them a bit together. The sauce can be a little chunky but not too much so it is easier to spread on the pizza base. If the pizza sauce gets too thick add a bit more olive oil while blending.
Cheese
Cheese is life. A pizza without cheese cannot call itself a pizza. If you are a vegan I would gladly hear some recommendations for vegan cheese that works well for pizza, however, leaving the cheese off altogether is just not an option.
For my own pizza, I use a simple mozzarella as the base cheese. This should be a hard mozzarella which you can usually buy pre-graded or in a block (depending on how lazy you are). While I love buffalo mozzarella or a fior di latte, any mozzarella kept in water is in my opinion not ideal for baking as they draw too much water. If you wanted to add something fancier add those kinds of mozzarella last minute when baking or, even better, once the pizza is out of the oven.
What else? Blue cheese, goat’s cheese, brie, ricotta… the world is your oyster topped and grilled with cheese.
How to make Your Pizza at Home
I have listed some tools below that will help you with your pizza. Mind you, you can absolutely make a fabulous pizza without, however, they will make your (pizza-making) life a lot easier.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and if you are using a pizza tile make sure to place it in the cold oven before you start heating it up.
Divide your pizza dough into smaller dough balls use some extra flour to roll out your dough. How thin is thin enough, how thick is too thick? This will very much depend on your taste. Personally, I am a fan of a thin, crispy pizza which is still just a tiny bit chewy. Tricky, I know I know.
Give it a try and when in doubt roll it a little bit thinner. Let your oven heat up for about 30 minutes. Before you put your rolled-out pizza base into the oven you need to liberally prick it with a fork all over so it doesn’t make gigantic bubbles when being baked.
In the oven, it will take about 2 minutes to pre-bake and if the dough is on the thicker side a bit longer. A good indicator is when the pizza dough makes small bubbles but isn’t changing color yet.
Get it out and add your tomato sauce, cheese and pizza toppings which need to bake and put it back in the oven. Depending on how much cheese you have used and your type of cheese this will probably just take another minute or so. Once the cheese starts bubbling your work of art is ready to come out.
Add any fresh ingredients like avo or herbs, place the pizza on a board, cut and enjoy! Careful – the cheese should be quite hot and melty and yes, you can burn your chin on hot cheese and no, I am of course not talking from experience.
Professional Equipment for homemade Italian pizza
Pizza stone
If you can use an unglazed terracotta tile. Some people call it a pizza stone but that name is usually attached to a hefty price tag. Once you can leave the house again head to your local homeware store and simply ask for an unglazed terracotta tile. I have never even paid for any of mine because the shop will usually give it to you for free if you tell them you only need one. If you are looking for a fancier one check out these options which make a great gift too.
Alternatively use a baking sheet with some baking paper. Since the tile/stone will cook the dough from below it is not ideal but will do the trick.
Pizza shovel
A pizza shovel is super useful as it allows you to transport your pizza from your surface area to the oven and back. Make sure you get one appropriate in length depending on your kitchen. I used to have a professional one with a really long handle and smashed quite a few things in my kitchen back in the day. They also come with shorter handles more appropriate for smaller spaces!
Porcupine & rolling pin
Obviously, a rolling pin is useful especially if you can’t flip your pizza dough like a true Italian chef which I can’t. Mind you, the times I have used an empty or a full wine bottle instead of a rolling pin are countless.
In addition, some fancy people have what I like to call a porcupine rolling pin. If you are looking for a present for someone who has everything and likes pizza this is great, alternatively use a fork to prick your dough like the rest of us.
Pizza cutter & board
These two speak for themselves. They are not absolutely necessary but nice to have as are pizza plates if you are making big and fancy individual pizzas. If you are starting out on your homemade pizza journey I would recommend a pizza cutter as they work a lot better than regular knives.
Need some inspiration for your Italian Pizza Recipes at Home?
Here are my current favorite pizza combinations
Napoli – I love a simple pizza margarita with a few anchovies and some fresh chili. In fact, I love fresh chili on all of my pizzas.
Spicy Seafood – Inspired by my favorite pizza of all times from Thailand, I love seafood on a pizza: grilled prawns, baby calamari, mussels. If you can only get frozen seafood, defrost and fry it up before adding them to your pizza (duh). Add lots of fresh chilies and if you like it spicy even add some chili to your tomato sauce and if you can get Thai basil you have a sure winner on your hand.
Bacon, avo & feta – This is a combination South Africans are crazy about and once you try it, you will easily see why. The bacon also needs to be fried beforehand and the feta is just an addition to your regular mozzarella since feta is not very melty. Most importantly: do not add the avocado while your pizza is still in the oven. Avo turns nasty when heated, so add it afterward.
Repeat after me: I solemnly vow to not bake avo on my pizza!
Speck & Figs – This is a new creation I just came up with when I was in Cape Town last. I was being cheap and didn’t want to fork out the money for Parma ham so I opted for thinly sliced speck instead. I also got some fresh figs and goat cheese and added them to my pizza. What a stunning combination!
Pizza Bianco with salmon – If you are not a fan of tomatoes have a go with a pizza bianco where you add your cheese straight onto your pizza base. My favorite version is one with smoked salmon or trout which you add once the pizza with the cheese is out of the oven. Add some lemon rind, dill (or fresh basil if you don’t like dill like me), and olive oil – yum!
Salciccia – I love love love pizza with salcicca. Peel the salcicca before and fry in the pan like you would minced meat before adding it to your pizza. Add some buffalo mozzarella afterward!
Pizza Hawaii – Yes, I dare to go there. I love the combination of sweet and savory and so I don’t mind pizza with ham and pineapple one bit. That said, I recommend you use fresh pineapple, slice and grill it before and use a nice parma ham instead of regular cooked ham. I also like to add some sweetcorn especially when it is freshly chared.
What is your favorite pizza topping?
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