We all, well most people enjoy a good pizza. It’s always a good alternative for that game night or when y’all too tired to cook or it’s date night and you are indoors.

Every time is pizza time! I don’t know about you but there are times you will eat a slice of pizza that’s so good and wonder how the heck they made it that good.

This piece will give you all that information and more so that when y’all can know how to make that good pizza at the comfort of your home.

Preparatory steps for awesome pizza at home

• Make your own pizza dough

For this you will need (For two 10-12-inch pizzas):

• 1 ½ cups (355 ml) warm water (105˚F-115˚F)
• 1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons) of active dry yeast
• 3 ¾ cups (490 g) bread flour or semolina flour.
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (omit if cooking pizza in a wood-fired pia oven)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

If you are feeding a larger crowd you can either double or triple the ingredients to suit your liking. On to making the dough!

1. Start by combining your warm water with the dry yeast and some sugar where it should start to froth. If it doesn’t keep tossing until it does.
2. Combine the salt and the flour, and start adding the flour to the mixer, 1/2 cup at a time.
3. Once you add the flour, the dough will still look pretty wet and sticky. Scrap it down with a spatula and a little bit of flour.
4. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it for a few minutes using a little flour to avoid it being sticky.
5. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a cloth. Let it rise for about 30 minutes then cut it in half. You could choose to use the dough immediately of refrigerate it for less than 48 hours.

• The rest of the pizza

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil
• Commeal to help slide the pizza onto the pizza stone
• Tomato sauce (smooth or pureed)
• Fresh soft mozzarella cheese separated in small clumps
• Parmesan cheese, grated
• Feta cheese, crumbled
• Fontina cheese, grated
• Mushrooms, thinly sliced if raw otherwise sautéed
• Bell peppers, very thinly sliced
• Italian pepperoncini, thinly sliced
• Italian sausage, cooked ahead and crumbled
• Chopped fresh basil
• Baby arugula, added after pizza is cooked
• Pepperoni thinly sliced
• Onions, thinly sliced
• Ham, thinly sliced

Equipment

• A pizza stone, highly recommended if you want a crispy pizza crust
• A pizza peel or baking sheet
• A pizza wheel for obviously cutting the pizza, not necessary but is easier than a knife.

Making the pizza

1. Preheat the pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. It should be 475˚F for at least 30 minutes preferably an hour. If you do not have a pizza stone you can use a pan or thick baking sheet. Something that won’t warp at high temperatures.
2. Dust your hands with flour and push the dough down so it deflates a bit. Form two round balls of dough and place each on its own bowl. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
3. Prepare your desired toppings. Prepare the grill for high direct heat. Prepare a small bowl with olive oil for greasing the grill grates and for brushing the pizza. Make sure the toppings are ready to go on the pizza-tomato sauce, cheese and anything else you wish. Even pineapples hehe!
4. Stretch the pizza dough by flattening it with your hands on a slightly floured surface and either use your fingers to stretch it out or hold up the edges of the dough with your fingers letting the dough hang and stretch while working around the edges of the dough.
5. Let it sit for minutes and then push out the edges with your fingers again until you have a nice round shape about 12-inches in diameter. Do not make the rim raised it will interfere with the grilling process.
6. Once the grill is hot dip a tightly folded up paper towel in olive oil and use tongs to wipe the grill grates.
7. Place the pizza dough round on a lightly floured rimless cookie sheet or pizza peel. Let it slide off the cookie sheet onto the hot grill grates.
8. Close the lid of the grill and let it cook for 2 minutes. It should take a couple of minutes if you have a hot grill. The top will start bubbling up with air pockets.
9. Remove the grilled dough and flip it over onto the cookie sheet. Paint the grilled surface of the pizza with a little extra virgin olive oil then cover with 1 ladle of sauce. Be careful not to make it soggy. Sprinkle the toppings ending with the Mozzarella cheese and if using meat put that over the cheese. Go light on the toppings to prevent sogginess.
10. Slide the topped pizza back on the grill and close it and cook for 2-3 minutes more or until the bottom begins to char and the cheese is bubbly. Pull off the grate with a spatula onto a cutting board or other flat surface and let rest for a couple of minutes before cutting into slices. Slice and serve!

Storing pizza in the fridge

There are those times you will not be ale to finish your pizza and you will have to refrigerate it. It is only normal you understand that all foods last for a short period of time if stored poorly.

Leftover pizza lasts for 5 days in the refrigerator. Frozen pizza last for about a year or 6 months past a “best by” date in the freezer.

Make sure to refrigerate it in a tightly closed container to keep out moisture and other contaminants. For the freezing use an air-tight freezer safe container.

Best way to reheat pizza

Using an oven

You might have tried this and the result was a dried-out slice of cheesy goo but let me be the first to tell you how to do it right.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375˚F

This is a very crucial step because if the heat is less than that. The heat should be higher before you even put the pizza.

Step 2: Line a baking tray with foil

Do this then pop it in the oven for a few minutes. The idea is to get the tray and foil piping hot before it touches the pizza.

Step 3: Put the pizza in the oven

Take out the tray oven using your mitt and place the pizza on it. Put it back in for around 10 minutes checking it now and then to make sure it does not burn. It should be a hot tasty and crispy slice!

Using a skillet

This is slightly quicker to reheat the pizza. Yes! The same one you use for those tasty dinners.

Step 1

Use a non-stick skillet and place it on medium heat. Place the cold pizza directly onto the skillet and heat it just for just a couple of minutes.

Step 2

Add a couple of drops of water to the pan’s base and make sure that the drops are to the side of the pizza.

Step 3

Put the lid on top of the pan and continue to heat the pizza for a couple of minutes. The idea is to steam up the skillet and melt the cheese and crispy base. Enjoy!