It’s Easier Than You Think!
Hey Good looking! – Colors
Pizza is a visual work of art. One of its inherent aesthetic components is its harmony of color: Browns, tans, reds, greens, shades of white -and the black of an olive.
• Do the colors compliment each other or does the combination of colors look like a bad painting? The simplest example of complimentary colors on a pizza is a Pesto pizza. The “red” against the “green” of the pesto looks great because red and green are complimentary colors. The “white” of the cheese ties both colors together because white compliments both red and green. The underlying aesthetic with these 3 colors is that they happen to be the colors of the Italian flag.
• What colors may go well with the color of the skin of an eggplant?
Composition and Quantity
The arrangement of ingredients on the top of a pizza is equally impressionable.
- Are they spread out evenly or does one side look like it has more than the other? Asymmetrical pizza has a greater appeal in our experience however symmetrical arrangement of pepperoni slices can look appealing as well.
- Does it look like enough food for an average person to eat?
- Does it look like too much for one person to eat?
Wow! You look Great!
Use good quality ingredients
Use fresh ingredients whenever possible. Organic foods still capture the original essence of foods although it may not be cost effective to always use fresh ingredients. Some ingredients may be more practical to use when making hundreds of pizzas in a day.
Learn how to cook your recipes correctly
- Does it look or taste burnt?
- Is it undercooked or just right?
We assemble all our pizzas on small handled wooden peel and use them to insert the pizzas in the oven.
Assembling a great Pizza using fresh pizza dough
Toss and roll out the pizza dough. Spread a four fingered pinch of corn meal or bread crumbs or flower on the pizza peel. Try all 3 to see which you like better. If your peel is wet or oily the dough will stick to the peel. For smaller pies try using a rolling pin to stretch out the dough. For larger pizzas roll out a bit with rolling pin, maybe half-size.
Pick up, and begin to spin a bit on the knuckles, pulling the dough gently outwards with each toss. Do this until the pizza is roughly the right size (big enough to almost touch the edges of the flat part of the peel).
It is fine if the center is paper-thin, so long as it doesn’t break. Place down on the peel, and use fingers and rolling pin to even out the edges. Organic shaped pizzas have a gourmet appearance. If you plan on selling slices the crust must be thicker in order to support the toppings.
Assembling a great Pizza using par-baked crusts
Assemble par-baked crusts on pizza peels as you normally would prepare and assemble fresh dough. Try par baking some crusts wrapping and putting them aside for a day and then bake.
Also freeze a few and reheat at a later date. Note any difference in how long it takes to fully bake along with any difference in taste or consistency.
Applying the sauces
Spread sauces using a spoon from a 1/2 to a 1/4 of an inch to the edge of the crust.
Thin watery tomatoes sauces do not cook well, they leave too much moisture after they are removed from the oven. A thicker sauce maintains it color and looks better. Pesto sauces have a tendency to leave an oily residue on the pizza peel. Be sure to keep the peels well floured or spread with bread crumbs or corn meal when using pesto sauce.
Applying the cheese
Spread the cheese with your hand up to a 1/2-inch to the edge of the crust.
All cheeses are not created equal. Try a few different brands with different milk contents. Some get too rubbery; some get too oily after being baked. Whatever you decide start by spreading a thin layer of cheese on top of your sauce.
Too much cheese on top of pizza will result in overcooking (burning) leaving the under portion of the cheese not melting enough. Too much cheese may result with a oily pizza with a burnt crust.
Applying Vegetables
Spread most toppings by using your hand or a spoon up to 1/2-inch to the edge of the crust.
Vegetable toppings like artichoke hearts, mushrooms, peppers and onions should be sliced thin so that they will cook in a short time and won’t release their moisture. More of an ingredient does not always make a better pizza. Overflowing toppings can make for a messy eating experience.
Applying Meats
Pepperoni and salami can be used as-is but meats like sausage, bacon, ground beef and poultry must be precooked. Place 6 small pepperoni circles on top of the cheese. Under the cheese makes it difficult for the pepperoni to warm up and to eat. Keep meats separate from other ingredients.
The pizzaiolo should monitor the cooking of the pizza by lifting up its edge. Using a metal peel, the pizzaiolo rotates the pizza, changing the edge that is facing the fire, and taking care to always replace the pizza on the same spot on the cooking surface, so that the pizza does not burn because it is exposed to different temperatures.
It is important that the pizza is cooked in uniform manner across its entire circumference. At the conclusion of the cooking, the pizzaiolo removes the pizza from the oven with a metallic peel, and places it on a flat, dry work surface. Cooking time should not surpass 60-90 seconds.
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