Perfect Homemade Pizza
·Tip: buy good flour
Good-quality flour is the foundation. When I don't have Italian pizza flour on hand, I use a fine all-purpose flour like Babiččina volba. It's worth paying a little extra (yes, it's only a small amount) — I promise you'll notice the difference.
Tip: make it the day before
Mix the ingredients into a smooth, supple dough, place it in a large bowl, and pop it in the fridge, where it rests until the next day. The following day, take the dough out, divide it into balls, and let them rise in a warm spot for about one to two hours. One kilo of flour makes four to six pizza bases.
Tip: heat your oven really well
A thoroughly and fully preheated oven is a must. My oven's top setting is 250°C, so I switch on the fan (convection) setting and let it heat up properly for at least ten minutes. If it went higher, I wouldn't complain — the pizza would turn out even better.
Mix the ingredients into a dough
Combine the dry ingredients first, then add the liquid ones. Work the dough thoroughly until it's beautifully supple, smooth and soft. Don't tire yourself out unnecessarily — a stand mixer or bread machine can do the work for you. There's no need to knead it by hand.
Into the fridge it goes
As soon as the dough is ready, put it into a bowl and place it in the fridge, where it rests until the next day.
Roll it out
The next day, take the dough out, let it finish rising, then roll and stretch it out with your fingers. Place it on a baking tray — lightly greasing it with oil first, just to be safe, is a good idea. Round, perforated pizza pans are ideal.
Top it and bake
Spread a tomato sauce base over the pizza and add your favorite toppings. Bake in a fully preheated oven until the edges turn a beautiful golden brown.
