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Have you ever wondered what is so special about Italian pizza? Why when we go to an Italian pizzeria, or in Italy, their pizzas have this little something that makes the difference?
Well, you came to the right place!
Before we jump into the secrets of a good and authentic Italian pizza, let’s talk about their origins.
Italy is well known to be the country that gave birth to the first pizza as we know it today. In fact, modern pizza was born in the beautiful city of Naples Italy in the 18th century.
In June 1889, Raffaele Esposito, owner of a pizzeria was invited to the court to make a pizza for queen Margherita. Three pizzas were prepared and from what we know today, the queen ended up choosing the pizza with the tomato sauce, the mozzarella, and the fresh basil leaves. The queen was very happy with the delights and gave many compliments to Raffaele Esposito. After his experience with the queen, he decided to put this pizza on the menu of his pizzeria and named it: Pizza Margherita.Now that you know the origins, it is time to dive into the secrets of a tasty Italian pizza. Even if we were giving you a really great recipe to make an Italian pizza here, it would not be enough. Understanding the importance of what is going to follow is crucial to succeed at baking a great Italian pizza at home.
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It may seem obvious but still, it is important to remind ourselves that selecting the right ingredients will definitely help you get the best results. Without good quality basic ingredients such as flour, yeast, olive oil, mozzarella, or cheese, it will be difficult for you to recreate these delicious Italian pizza flavors that we love so much.
Recommended Ingredients
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Instant Yeast
- Fleischmanns Compressed Fresh Yeast
- Bel Gioioso Burrata Mozzarella
- Dietz & Watson Gruyere Cheese
- Rio Briati Pecorino Romano Cheese
- Bel Gioioso, Parmesan Cheese
- Grand Suisse Emmental Cheese
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Before we tell you what is the best type of flour to make a delicious pizza, it is important to understand what types of flour are on the market and what to use them for.
We can find a lot of different types of flour on the market today, which is why it is not so easy to choose, but every flour has its own use.
The most common flours as we call them are bread flour, cake flour, unbleached flour, or even all-purpose flour and more. However, those are just names that we use to define them on the market. But what are the real types of flour and their specificities?
Flours are classified according to their mineral matter content (in bran) expressed as a percentage, after baking and relative to the starting mass. We calculate what is called the "ash content". The higher the bran concentration in the flour, the higher the T number, and the less white the flour.
T45: white flour mostly used for cakes and other pastries.
T55: white flour used for regular white bread or classic baguette.
T65: white flour used by bakers mostly for farmhouse bread.
T80: semi-wholemeal flour used mostly for organic bread.
T130: wholemeal flour.
T150: wholewheat flour.
T00: gluten-rich, this flour is used in Italy by professionals to make good quality pizza.
Now that you know a little bit more about the different types of flour, next time you want to make a delicious pizza at home, look for a flour T00.
Recommended Flour
- T45 Francine French Flour
- T55 Francine Organic French Flour
- T80 Organic Semi-Wholemeal Flour
- T130 Odlums Wholemeal Coarse
- T150 Organic Whole Wheat Flour
- T00 Antimo Caputo Chefs Flour
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Making pizza dough does not require a stand mixer, but it will definitely help you a lot when kneading. When you knead the dough you are developing the gluten that the flour contains. When you use T00 flour, kneading does not affect the elasticity of the dough, even if it is a gluten-rich flour. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that the more you knead a dough the stronger it will be due to the excess of gluten that the dough has developed.
Also, in Europe, the most common yeast used by professionals is the fresh one. Using dry yeast can be a little bit tricky because if you don’t activate it carefully, your dough won’t proof.
Recommended Stand Mixers
- KitchenAid Artisan Design Series Stand Mixer (5-Quart)
- KitchenAid Professional 600 Series Stand Mixer (6-Quart)
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Believe us, a stone oven will make a big difference when it comes to the texture and flavors of your pizza, and you may wonder why.
Well, first the particularity of a stone oven is that it is particularly hot. When preheating the oven, the temperature can be between 450°F (230°C) and 500°F (260°C), which allows the stone to heat and bake the pizza in less than 5 minutes. Traditional Italian pizzas are directly baked on the hot stone, and this is the reason why the crust is always so irresistible.
Now the next question will be: How to cook my pizza at home to get this perfect crust?
Folks, today we do not need an oven stone to make a delicious pizza at home. You only need a good-quality pizza stone! So, when you are about to make pizza, preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C) with the pizza stone inside and when the oven reaches the temperature and your stone is really hot, you are ready to bake your pizza.
And don't forget, a good pizza is made with simple delicious ingredients such as a tasty tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella di burrata, fresh basil leaves, and olive oil.
Recommended Ovens
- Bertello Outdoor Pizza Oven & Pizza Peel
- Camp Chef Artisan Pizza Oven
- Chicago Brick Wood Fired Pizza Oven
- Stainless Steel Wood Fired Artisan Pizza Oven
- Ceramic Pizza Grilling Rectangular Stone
- Ceramic Pizza Grilling Round Stone
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Bon appétit!
The information provided in this article is not nutritional or medical advice. Please read our disclaimer.