Raw materials
In pizzas, as in everything else in the kitchen, it starts and ends with fine ingredients. First of all – do not overlap in the type of flour. The most popular is flour 00 (what the Italians call typo 00. Imagine it with a Neapolitan accent, it’s already half the taste), but the type of flour should match the rising time you plan. If you prepare the dough yourself, it is important to knead it for no less than 10 minutes. If using frozen dough, it is important to let it thaw for 72 hours in the refrigerator and then another 5 hours at room temperature.
Homemade pizza by the pizzaiolo, fresh and fresh. Photo: Nati Salam
Fine ingredients are also critical in the rest of the pizza: I recommend a base of San Marzano tomatoes grown in Naples, which have a sweet taste that will significantly upgrade. Use fresh mozzarella (which is recommended to filter for 24 hours before baking, so that “lakes” do not form on the pizza). In some places you can also buy dry mozzarella. If you decide to go all the way, treat your pizza with Parmesan Ragiano (preferably one aged for 30 months), and basil and olive oil after it comes out of the oven.
rolling
Roll only by hand. Think of the Italian nonna – you don’t imagine her working with a rolling pin, do you? Take a ball of dough that has risen nicely at room temperature and flatten it with your fingers. Turn the side a few times until you reach something relatively flat. At this stage you can start stretching it with your hands – carefully. The secret to a perfect pizza is thin hand-rolled dough with slightly thicker edges, so that your fingers never touch the edges.
The fresh pizzaiolo is drained. Photo: Nati Salam
Do you have dough left and no place to stick another crumb? Wonderful. The dough can be frozen in balls in a closed box (do not flour or oil it). When the soul craves pizza (it’s soul, of course) remove the dough with parchment or putty to thaw in the refrigerator (at a temperature of 3-4 degrees) for 72 hours and then a few more hours at room temperature, before starting to work with it. Place in a bowl with semolina flour (a special flour intended for the stage of opening the dough) and roll with your fingers from the center outwards.
temperature
Do you have a home oven? this is fine. Turn on the oven (upper and lower) an hour and a half in advance on the highest possible heat (not turbo). You don’t want to give up on this part. This is critical to mission success. The pizza is baked on a stone or steel surface and if you don’t have one – that’s fine too, just take a simple baking pan, turn it over and bake on it. Just let the oven work nicely for an hour and a half, because we want the dough to be crispy and crackling. If you invested in a hot tub, make sure that the temperature on the floor of the hot tub is 360 degrees and in its space you are at 370 degrees.
The fresh pizzaiolo is drained. Photo: Nati Salam
Gadgets to upgrade
It is possible to manage without a stone, but it is important to lower the pizza with a wooden grater directly onto the stone or directly onto the opposite tray. Any attempt to do it any other way is doomed to failure. The chefs will also give the pizza a small turn in the middle of baking so that the dough crisps (I may have invented a verb) from all directions uniformly. After baking, it is highly recommended to put the pizza on a cooling rack.
The finale
The secret lies in the small details: after baking, cut the pizza and sprinkle it generously with olive oil, parmesan and basil. with love. with appetite
Try it at home. Homemade pizza by the pizzaiolo, fresh and fresh. Photography: Nati Salam
Raanan Nossel is an international pizzaiolo, a judge in international competitions and the owner of the business “Raanani’s” for ready-made pizza dough