How To Make Your Pizza More Like That Found At Italian Restaurants
Italian restaurants tend to have some of the best pizza. It often has a thinner, tastier crust and higher quality toppings than you'd get on a pizza from your local pizza delivery shop. If you decide to make pizza at home, is it possible for that pizza to resemble the kind from your favorite Italian restaurant? Yes! Even without a commercial pizza oven, you can get some truly delicious, Italian-style pizza at home by following these tips.
Age your dough
The crust of an authentic Italian pizza has that characteristic crunchiness and chewiness that you don't usually get if you just whip up a batch of yeast dough at home. The secret is aging the dough. Make your pizza dough with about 1/4 of the yeast that the recipe calls for. Then, after you've mixed it together and kneaded it, let it sit in the fridge for 2 to 3 days before bringing it back to room temperature and shaping it. Letting the dough ferment in the cold fridge for this longer period gives it a more complex flavor, and it also makes the dough stretchier so that you have an easier time getting it nice and thin like real Italian pizza dough.
Use a simple tomato sauce
If you pay close attention to the sauce on an authentic Italian pizza, you'll notice that there are not that many spices or seasonings in it. Authentic Italian restaurants usually rely on the flavor of the tomatoes themselves. So, consider buying really high-quality canned tomatoes to make your sauce. Tomatoes from Italy are a classic option. You really only need to crush them and add some salt before using them to top the pizza. You can add a little garlic and onion powder if you really want, too, but you don't need to add anything else.
Blend your cheeses
Instead of reaching for the giant block of mozzarella, buy smaller blocks of a few different cheeses. For the most authentic Italian flavor, you'll want equal parts aged provolone, mozzarella, and fontina. However, you can get away with half provolone and half mozzarella in a pinch. Adding these other, sharper cheeses gives the pizza more flavor, whereas the mozzarella provides the stretch. Mozzarella is not that flavorful on its own.
By making small tweaks to each of your primary pizza components, you can make a more authentic and delicious Italian pizza at home. Follow the advice above, and enjoy! For more tips on making pizza, contact a local Italian restaurant.
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