General Pizza tips & Quick Questions

magnolia65

I hope I don't screw up the threads here but I found something out last night about Pizza bases to make sure you get a nice crust at the bottom.

I used to make Pizza a couple of years ago but used the scone recipe. I got my panasonic BM and wanted to try a pizza but was putting it off as I remember the mess of putting it on the oven racks and falling through and then trying on the baking tray and not liking the middle of the pizza dough still being gooey.

So last night I made the dough in the panny and divided into 4 (shall only divide into 2 next time though) rolled out and placed the raw base onto a heated heavy based frying pan and allowed the base to cook to "harden" yet still doughy on top. I suppose similar to how you would warm a pitta/wrap in a pan but only the one side.

What also happened was the dough began to rise a bit and if left a little longer I think it would end up making a few air pockets around the edge, which hopefully would go nice and crispy like the bought ones. I then slid it off onto a baking try and placed the toppings on. Which by the way I saved some juice from tinned tomatoes I used for pasta the other night and mixed that wth a small tin of tomato puree and that came out the perfect consistancy and had a stronger taste than just tinned toms.

It was really good as I didn't get the doughy centre that I used to get.

I think the advantages to this would be if you half bake in the frying pan first, freezing would be easier as the dough wouldn't be floppy as the base is hard.

JennyW_2

hi. wonder if you can help. I'm attempting my first HM pizzas tonight and just need some help on how to prepare the toppings.

I had to buy my bases (HM ones were a disaster). For the tomato base I have a tin of organic chopped tomatoes, some pesto, onions, garlic and cheese.

1. How shall I prepare the tomato base - shall I simmer the tomatoes & onion (do they thicken up)? then spread it on the base? Let it cool down or can it be hot?

2. My husband would like mince on his. Do I fry it with a little onion (or chilli) then apply this, cover with cheese then put in the onion?

Many thanks for your advice.

Clive_Woody

You might need to use some tomato puree for the base to thicken it up a bit otherwise it might be a bit runny. Pesto is something I add to my pizzas as it adds a lovely flavour, you can also get a garlic puree from the supermarket if you are feeling lazy and this thickens up the sauce too.

If you are going to use mince I would cook this as you would normally, with chilli, onion, garlic and maybe a stock cube for added richness. For something a bit different try adding some cumin, corrinader or curry powder to give it an indian style flavour.

You can use all sorts of cheese, but the classic is mozzarella. Grated cheddar, brie, stilton or any other make interesting changes to the classic styles.

When you have assembled the pizza sprinkle on some dried basil (or mixed dried herbs) to finish it off nicely.

livalot

just a couple of tips

1) try to remove as much liquid and water from the tomatoes as possible - as too much will make your pizza bases soggy - so it might be best to cook your tomatoes first to get them to really cook down and have an intense flavour. I just spread my bases now with a thin layer of tomato puree mixed with pesto or garlic mixed in - this is so quick

2) avoid the temptation of putting loads and loads of toppings onto the pizza to make it tastier (unless you like loads of cheese and mince) - you will just end up with a burnt base and uncooked toppings! Less is definitely more. Oh and def cook the mince before - it wont have time to cook in the oven if you put in onto the pizza raw.

HTH

carly

For my tomato sauce I simmer the tinned tomatoes with garlic, chopped onion, dried herbs ( whichever you fancy, oregano, basil. marjoram are good ) and sometimes tomato puree until good and thick. then cool before spreading on pizza base. The pesto idea sounds lovely too. I would deffo cook the mince first and add any of your favourite flavourings (chili is good.) Dont use too much toppings as it can make the pizza soggy. mozzerella is best for melted strings and add another strong cheese for flavour if you like a bit of bite. experiment and have fun. I'm sure it will be great whatever you do! enjoy

JennyW_2

thanks for all your advice. Unfortunately my thank you button doesn't work

Storm

I know you've got your bought bases for this time, but I've always used a scone-base when making my own pizza from scratch as it's much quicker & easier than doing a proper dough one. The joy of making your own base too is that you can turn the sides over to hold in the toppings if they're a bit runny!

hazzie123

Has anyone tried putting cheese into the sides,like a stuffed crust?

weegie_2

For my tomato sause on the pizza I just mix some tomato puree and bbq sauce together - yum. I was trying to get something similar to the BBQ sauce that the dominos pizza's come with.....:-)

Also - home made bases are so much nicer - have you tried Nick Nairn's easy peasy one?

Oh and like hazzie123 I'd also like to know if anyone has every attempted stuffed crust pizzas. My husband loves these and if I managed to make one of these from him I'm sure I'd score extra brownie points!

saving-grace

weegie wrote:

Oh and like hazzie123 I'd also like to know if anyone has every attempted stuffed crust pizzas. My husband loves these and if I managed to make one of these from him I'm sure I'd score extra brownie points!

Haven't done it myself but have eaten one my daughter made and it was very successful. She was following a recipe from an Ainsley Harriot book, which tells you to arrange the cheese around the edge of the dough leaving a 4cm border, dampen the inner edge of the cheese ring, pull the outer edge over to cover the cheese and press down firmly to seal.