No one can resist the perfect combination of these ingredients, which we call pizza! Sometimes it’s nice to make it at home and enjoy it in peace. You need to know a few little tricks though first: the pizza must be light and tasty and easy to digest. Here are five simple recommendations from the chefs of La Cucina Italiana’s Cooking School.
One. Leavening
To obtain a more digestible pizza, the amount of yeast needs to be reduced: about 8-10 g of yeast per kilo of flour is required. Moreover, the longer the dough is left to rise, the softer and lighter the pizza will be. To get a good pizza you must not be in a hurry. Extending the leavening time really helps make a tasty and much more digestible pizza.
Two. Special flour
To get a more fragrant and delicious pizza here’s a little trick: replace a small part of the soft wheat flour, about 20% per kilo of flour, with different flour. Among those available on the market, for example, you can choose wholemeal flour or burnt wheat flour.
Three. Strong flour
If you want a pizza with better structure our chef's advice is to use a strong flour, from 270 to 350 W, which absorbs 65/70% of the liquid and is ideal for leavened preparations which require a high amount of liquid, just like pizza.
Four. Water
To activate the yeast’s job for leavening first, cool the water to about 80°F so that they dissolve together with the sugar part.
Five. The Secret
Finally, for a silkier pizza the secret is to use a bit of lard as the fat part: a fat not particularly appreciated or widespread nowadays, more commonly used in the past, but it’s super tasty. If you prefer a crispier pizza, use extra virgin olive oil.
Unexpected pairings
Once your pizza's ready, the combinations are endless. La Cucina Italiana’s Cooking School chefs, as great experimenters of new and daring combinations, recommend pizza with goats cheese, pumpkin puree, and Sichuan pepper for the winter periods. Alternatively, a pizza with Gorgonzola and mortadella. A pizza to absolutely try is with cooked ham, honey, turnip tops, and fior di latte mozzarella.
