Pizza

Pizza's pretty easy to make at home, but you might face challenges if you're something of a pizza snob, because 'proper' pizza will require cooking at incredibly high temperatures. If you're like me and aren't a pizza nerd, these are plenty better than fast food pizza even the lazy way. I encourage you to look into the way of the pizza nerds if you really want to step up your pizza game, but don't be scared off if you don't have a pizza stone or 00 flour.

The Dough

Dough is deceptively simple: flour, water, sugar, salt, yeast, and oil. But baking is always finicky, with things like your altitude and the moisture in the air influencing your finished product, which means you may have to adjust the amount of flour/water used. Luckily, most premade pizza doughs are generally plant-based (except for the ocassional dough conditioner) so you can always go that route.

I personally use the recipe that came with my bread maker, and make it in said bread maker, though you can knead it with a hand mixer or, of course, just by hand.

1 cup warm water

3 1/3 cup flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

4 TBSP vegetable oil

2 tsp instant yeast (or 2.5 tsp active dry, which needs to be proofed)

Mix together and put your bread maker on dough mode or knead for 5-7 minutes (with mixer) or 10 minutes (by hand), then let it rest in a warm area for a couple of hours before punching it down, dividing the dough into however many pizzas you want (this'll make about 2 medium pizzas) and let rest another 20 minutes before shaping.

Ingredient Notes

Water - yes, it should be warm. My breadmaker suggests about 80 degrees farenheit. Pizza nerds get very specific about the precise hydration ratios of their doughs, but frankly I don't know anything about that.

Flour - I use all purpose flour, some people use bread flour, pizza nerds are fans of tipo 00 flour. Ratios of flour to water may change depending on what kind of flour you use so watch out for that. As I've only used AP, I can't offer advice on others.

Sugar - important for the yeast to eat, not for sweetening, so don't try to remove it

At this point, you have a couple of options. You can cold ferment the dough, which brings out more flavor, by covering it and sticking it in the fridge overnight (or for several days tbh). You can also store it in the freezer to save it for later. You can partially bake the shaped dough by itself, then remove it and add your sauce and toppings before finishing it in the oven, which will help give you a crispier crust. (you could freeze it at this point as well) Or if you're lazy like me you can just chuck the toppings right on there and bake the whole thing at once.

Shaping

Make sure your dough is room temperature when it's time to shape it - if it's been refrigerated or frozen, give it plenty of time sitting on the counter. Flatten the dough by hand and then stretch it out starting from the center. Feel free to pick it up and use gravity to stretch it out, just maybe don't try any throwing tricks. You can also just ski

Baking

For that nice crispy exterior with the fluffy interior you're going to need an oven that gets stupid hot. A commercial pizza oven will get to about 850 degrees, which isn't really practical at home. Instead, just preheat your oven to as high as it'll go. Having a pizza stone in there getting hot (and a pizza peel to slide it on there) helps make the crust crispier but I cannot be bothered. You can also make a deep dish pizza in a cast iron skillet. Sprinkle some corn meal on your pizza pan/stone to prevent sticking and add that nice texture to the crust.

Toppings

The good thing about making your own pizza is that you can add as many of whatever toppings you want. The bad thing is that the more toppings you add, the harder it is to get a crispy crust, especially if you have a lot of wet toppings. Pre-baking the crust, partially roasting veggie toppings and placing toppings like cherry tomatoes cut-side up can help avoid soggy crust.

Sauce

A red sauce is the easiest part, since, unlike pasta sauce, it's raw. Just crack open a can of tomato sauce, throw in some oregano, salt, black pepper, and crushed garlic, and stir and you're good to go. Feel free to experiment with other stuff too (maybe separate a little bit to use for testing) like red pepper flakes, basil, onion powder, or whatever. You're technically not supposed to put sugar in it but do what you want, the Italians can't stop you (personally I don't think it's necessary especially as long as your tomatoes are good). If you want to get extra fancy, pizza nerds are fond of San Marzano tomatoes - the legit stuff, not the San Marzano "style". Store leftovers in a jar or other airtight container (if you use plastic it's likely to stain) and it'll last for a couple of weeks in the fridge but will eventually get moldy. It'll freeze fine so consider chucking it in the freezer if need be. It's better to make ahead of time, since the taste improves once it's had time to meld.

'Cheese'

A bit of a point of contention among vegans, a lot of people tend to have problems with plant-based cheeses, especially regarding the meltability. While cheese isn't necessarily obligatory, it really helps the other toppings stick instead of just rolling off. An option I like which tends to be popular is Miyoko's liquid mozarella, though it's made with cashews, which can be a problem for a few reasons. I personally have used and enjoyed Violife, Goodplanet, and Follow Your Heart mozzarella shreds. To add a cheesy taste you can also sprinkle on some nutritional yeast after baking. If you skip cheese, just beware of your toppings sliding off.