Emanuele Giglio

Pizza Dough – Recipe

How to make Italian Homemade Pizza
Follow this easy and tasty recipe to prepare your Italian home made Pizza.
It can be an incredible way to get your kids involved in your kitchen!

Methods

In large mixing bowl, combine flours and sugar with a fork.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a small bowl, this process is important to activate the fermentation activity. If the water is too cold, the yeast may take too long to activate; too hot, and it will kill the bacteria. Let stand until the mixture foams on top, about 5 minutes, then gradually pour it in the flours mixture.

Knead with your hands until well combined, about 10 minutes. The dough may result sticky and soft. We used to smash the dough onto the bowl or the table several times to get the gluten working.

Add salt, olive oil and if need it a handful of flour. Knead for other 5 minutes.

Let the dough rest and rise on a lightly floured surface at least 2 hours at room temperature or in the oven. Cover the bowl with cling film or a clean cloth and the dough will double in bulk.

A bit of history
– “Pizza” Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org n.p. Web. 22 October 2003 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza –
“Modern pizza evolved from similar flatbread dishes in Naples, Italy in the 18th or early 19th century. Prior to that time, flatbread was often topped with ingredients such as garlic, salt, lard, cheese, and basil. It is uncertain when tomatoes were first added and there are many conflicting claims. Until about 1830, pizza was sold from open-air stands and out of pizza bakeries, and pizzerias keep this old tradition alive today. A popular contemporary legend holds that the archetypal pizza, pizza Margherita, was invented in 1889, when the Royal Palace of Capodimonte commissioned the Neapolitan pizzaiolo (pizza maker) Raffaele Esposito to create a pizza in honor of the visiting Queen Margherita. Of the three different pizzas he created, the Queen strongly preferred a pizza swathed in the colors of the Italian flag: red (tomato), green (basil), and white (mozzarella). Supposedly, this kind of pizza was then named after the Queen as “Pizza Margherita”, although recent research casts doubt on this legend.”

Fresh egg pasta – Recipe

Methods
Place the flour and a pinch of salt on a board or in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it.

Mix the eggs with the flour, incorporating a little at a time, until your dough is combined.

Knead until smooth for 10/15 minutes. If it results too hard, you can dip your fingers in the water to make it a bit wet.

Once your dough is soft and elastic, wrap it hardly with cling film and put it in the fridge at least for one hour. The gluten in the flour will relax, making the dough easier to roll.
Cut your dough in 5/6 pieces and dust your board properly. Using a rolling pin and a bit of perseverance, start to roll out the dough to a height of about 2 mm.