Celebrating National Pizza Day-- Tips For Making Homemade Pizza

National Pizza Day is on February 9th and celebrates one of America’s all-time favorite foods. Whether it is thin crust, Chicago-style, deep dish, or anything in between, pizza is a favorite.

Tips For Making Homemade Pizza

🍕Use the Windowpane Test-- The windowpane test is a really simple test you can do to see if your pizza dough is kneaded enough. Kneading your dough develops gluten, which gives dough the elasticity needed for stretching and rising. To know when your dough is sufficiently kneaded, use the windowpane test. Break off a hunk of dough, roll it into a smooth ball, gently stretch the dough and hold it up to the light. Gluten-full, elastic dough will be transparent in the center — like a “windowpane” — and you should be able to see the light pass through.

🍕Skip the rolling pin-- Don’t roll the dough with a rolling pin! This will pop all of the little air bubbles in the dough giving you a chewier, denser crust. If you want light and crispy, just press the dough with your hands.

🍕Pressing the dough-- Once the dough has risen, it’s time to stretch it. To begin stretching, place your dough ball on a lightly oiled surface, and, using your fingertips, gently prod the dough beginning in the middle and pushing outward. Work your fingers around in circles to slowly stretch the dough in all directions. Continue until your dough is a large, mostly flattened circle, slightly thicker on the edge and not too thin in the middle. If your dough is too thin in the middle, it won’t be able to support the toppings and may burn if you try to bake it anyway.

🍕Avoid the urge to over-top your pizza-- It’s easy to get carried away. But if you overload on the toppings, it makes it hard for the crust to get fully cooked. Rein it in a bit and your pizza will love you for it. When it comes to toppings, less is more.

🍕Don’t Load up on Sauce or Cheese, Either--Too much sauce or cheese can add excess moisture to your pizza dough. That means your crust will be soft and soggy instead of crisp and delicious.

🍕The best for last! Brush on the olive oil--To get that crispy, crackly crust, use a brush to slather on some olive oil.  Try Garlic EVOO, Basil EVOO, Tuscan Herb EVOO, Pesto EVOO