Undoubtedly, for many of us, pizza and weekend are synonymous. The crunchy crust, delicious toppings and oodles of cheese are enough to turn the day around. Personally, my Fridays can never go without binge-watching my favourite show along with a medium pizza and coke on the side. The Italian comfort food is believed to have originated in Naples in the 18th century. Back then, people used to consume it as a flatbread with some toppings as it was filling and cheap as well. Legend has it that the credit for the invention of pizza goes to Raffaele Esposito who made the first modern-day pizza. The pizza was royalty-commissioned as Queen Margherita was visiting Naples and wanted to eat something Italian. When it comes to making pizza at home, all the other elements except the crust are all things fun and good. Sometimes it runs out too soft whereas the other times it is hard enough to break a tooth or two. So, to help you nail making homemade pizza crust at home, we have some easy and handy tips and tricks in store for you.
1. Allow the yeast, warm water and granulated sugar to rest at least for five minutes.
2. After mixing the flour, oil and salt into the yeast mixture, make sure you knead the dough for 3-4 minutes.
3. To check whether the dough will rise, poke the dough with your fingers. If the dough slowly bounces back, it is ready to rise. If it doesn’t, knead it for 2-3 more minutes.
4. Make sure you grease the bowl you are using to rest the dough. Allow the dough to rest for 60-90 minutes by covering it with aluminum foil or a paper towel.
5. Punch the dough down when it's ready to release the air bubbles.
6. After forming the disc, make sure you press it with your fingers to prevent bubbling.
7. To prevent your crust from being soggy with the toppings and sauce, make sure you lightly brush the dough disc with oil.
We hope you’ll be rescued from a soggy or hard pizza crust the next time by these easy tips. Here’s a quick recipe to whip up a pizza at home.
