Pizza Toppings, Crusts, and Bases, Oh My

Pizza is a beloved dish around the world. Evolving to each country having their own spin on the classic pie. This includes different pizza toppings, crusts, and bases — sometimes even different between close-by regions. Today’s blog is all about the pizza and how to identify the various forms it comes in.

The History of the Pie and How to Make It

Pizza is an Italian dish consisting of a usually round, flattened wheat-based dough with toppings such as: anchovies, mushrooms, onions, olives, pineapple, meat, etc. This topped dough is then baked at a high temperature — traditionally a wood-fired oven.

The term pizza was first recorded in the 10th century in a Latin manuscript. Its discovery was in the Southern Italian town of Gaeta in Lazio, on the border of Campania. However, Naples invented the modern pizza we have come to know and love. In fact, in 1984 the Associazione Veraze Pizza Napoletana (The True Neapolitan Pizza Association) founded to promote this traditional dish. Later, in 2009, Italy requested for the Neapolitan pizza to be registers as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed. Following this, in 2017, the art of making it found itself of UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.

So, how do you make a pizza?

A Quick How To

There are various ways to make a pizza depending on the style and pizza toppings used. A classic Margherita (cheese, tomato base, and mozzarella and basil pizza topping) is fairly straight forward!

For the base, you will need:

bread flour (1 and a half cups)
instant yeast (1 tsp)
salt (1 tsp)
olive oil (1 tbsp)

To make, put the flour into a large bowl and stir in the yeast and salt. Make a well and pour in 200ml (or ~6.5 oz) of warm water and olive. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough is soft and fairly wet. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and kneed for 5 minutes until smooth. Cover with a cloth and set aside. If you like a thin crust, you don’t need to leave the dough to rise for too long.

During this proofing time, you can make the saucy base.

For this, you will need:

passata (100ml or ~3 oz)
dried basil 1 tsp; or a handful of fresh, if available
1 crushed garlic clove

Mix these ingredients together and season to taste.

Next, it’s time to assemble the pizza.

The pizza toppings you will need:

a sliced ball of mozzarella
handful grated or shaved parmesan
halved handful of cherry tomatoes

Roll out the dough on a flowered surface to large rounds — about 25cm (~10 inches) across. A thin dough is essential for rising in the oven. Set the oven to 240C (464F) /220C (428F) fan/ gas 8. While it heats up, smooth the space over the base with the back of a spoon. Then, scatter cheese, tomatoes, and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 8-10 mins until crisp. Then, enjoy!