Italian pizza - a truly national dish, popular in many countries. Often, however, tortillas with cheese, served at a café or baked independently, only remotely resemble the real pizza. Pizza has its own characteristics and rules that allows you to bake a really tasty dish.

"People's" dish

Italian - one of the most popular in the world, people's love and the secret lies in the simplicity of the recipes and consistently great taste. In fact, all the Italian dishes are fairly simple composition, but through the use of high-quality products and original spices they turn into real works of art.

And, perhaps the most famous Italian dish is pizza - tortilla dough, brush the sauce and sprinkle with cheese. On top of the cake is decomposed stuffing, and as a filling can serve a variety of foods. The simplest pizza - "Margarita" - contains nothing but tomato, mozzarella Mozzarella: an authentic Italian taste   and basil. Also popular meat pizzas - with meat, small meat balls, bacon, ham, sausage. Many people choose a vegetarian pizza with vegetables and mushrooms. And in the coastal Italian cities often cooked pizza with seafood. In short, like any true national dish, the pizza has a lot of variations.

Today you can have a meal pizza restaurants on all continents. And yet it is believed that the real pizza cooked only in her homeland, Italy. What is different from the Italian pizza cakes with tomato and cheese that prepare the cook in other countries?

"Made in Italy"

"Correct" Pizza should be cooked only from yeast dough Yeast dough . The lozenge should be soft inside and crisp outside. It is believed that to achieve this effect by the Italian chefs help special wood oven.

Of course, for the preparation of this pizza is necessary to use the ingredients come from Italy. If you replace the olive oil, sunflower oil, dill and basil pizza also get delicious, but the title of Italian dishes she will not have to qualify. Therefore, you should stock up on the correct ingredients.

Ironically, at this food should not be a lot of toppings and fillings should not be too diverse. Pizza, containing just meatballs, beef, bacon, sausage, mushrooms and vegetables seven species - the invention of modern times. Such pizza chef coming up around the world, trying to make the national color of Italian dishes or simply invent original dish for his pizzeria. Traditional recipes also filling its simplicity.

Pizza dough

In which test not only cook a pizza. In addition to conventional yeast is used as a flaky, shortbread, cheese, sour cream, fresh water. All of these variations can be really delicious, and yet this is not real pizza. And for this you need a yeast dough out of flour (flour is commonly used special grades), water, extra virgin olive oil with the addition of sugar and salt. Knead the dough - a difficult task, not by chance the job entrusted, as a rule, men with strong arms. If you do not use a rolling pin kneading, the dough should be beaten with his hands and stretch, achieving elasticity.

The preparation begins with the sponge dough: the flour should be mixed with water, heated to 35 degrees, and yeast add some sugar, mix and leave warm. 20 minutes later the mass bubbled, which means that you can add salt and remaining flour and olive oil. All ingredients (except water) should be at room temperature.

Bake pizza recommend at high temperature. It is desirable, of course, to use the traditional wood-burning stove, but this recommendation is not suitable for everyone. However, in a conventional oven, you can bake a very delicious pizza, especially if you use the convection mode.

Special Sauce

Most housewives preparing a pizza with tomato paste or ketchup. In the Italian pizzerias increasingly using special tomato sauce according to old recipes. These recipes carefully protect from competitors.

The options prepare the sauce, there are many from simple to complex. But, in fact, they all boil down to the fact that canned peeled tomatoes stewed in olive oil with basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Then the sauce is kneaded in mashed or whipped blender until smooth.

If desired, the sauce can be added various ingredients, such as sweet peppers, grilled onions, rosemary or other favorite herbs. But the foundation of the Italian sauce is unchanged - a tomato, olive oil, garlic and basil.

Toppings

First tortilla dough smeared with tomato sauce, then sprinkle with cheese, and only then it is spread filling. Interestingly, many people prefer to put the stuffing, first, and only then pour on top of the cheese. But with this method of cooking cheese can easily dry out during baking pizza, and he must remain semi-liquid, stretching consistency.

It is believed that the pizza, as in any cake can add anything. And so it is. For meat or fish products can be added to almost any vegetables, except, perhaps, root crops (although the pizza with potatoes is sometimes found in the menu pizzerias). You can use boiled, fried, smoked and salted meat and minced meat. Fish can also be fresh, boiled, salted or smoked - as long as it was combined to taste with tomato sauce. If the tastes of conflict, it is better to take instead of tomato sauce creamy. Mushrooms are usually placed in the raw pizza or pre-fried, depending on their type.

Filling not have to be dry. And on top of it lightly sprayed with olive oil Olive oil: useful properties . Instead of the usual oils it can be used infused with herbs or garlic.

Maria Bykov

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