Pizza is traditionally an Italian dish, but it can have lots of toppings inspired from many different global cuisines. As the weather gets colder, making homemade pizza with creative toppings is the perfect weekend activity for the family.
The crust
Making homemade pizza dough is pretty easy, just a few simple ingredients and about an hour and you will have a delicious crust.
The crust is very important to the pizza, so try making your own dough and adding a few extras to enhance the flavor of your pizza. If you are making your pizza with a specific cuisine in mind, then add popular flavors from that cuisine into your dough.
For example, if you are making an Indian-style pizza, add curry to the dough, or for a Thai-inspired pizza, mix in some minced Thai basil. A Mexican-inspired pizza can have minced jalapeños added to the dough, or a French pizza can include grated munster cheese.
You can also sprinkle whatever ingredient you are using on the edges of the crust before you bake it; this works great with cheese that melts and gets golden and crisp. Be creative with the crust and it will greatly enhance the flavor of the pizza.
>>>Click here for a pizza making primer
The sauce
The sauce is another important component of a good pizza. Again, you can make your own sauce and switch it up depending on what ethic cuisine inspires you.
A wasabi aioli is perfect for a thin-crusted Japanese-style pizza topped with tuna, or a cheesy sauce mixed with beer, or sauerkraut on a German-style pizza topped with bratwurst. Try a peanut sauce for a Thai pizza and top it with pad Thai noodles, or a tomato sauce (reminiscent of gazpacho) topped with shellfish and seafood for a tasty Spanish-style pizza.
When making the sauce, just keep in mind what you will be using as the toppings and what you made the crust with to keep the flavors well balanced.
The cheese
As far as cheese is concerned, you can use just about anything out there.
Feta works great for a Greek-style pizza, or gruyere for a Swiss inspired version; manchego makes a tasty Spanish pizza, or top your pizza with queso fresco for Mexican-style.
Not every pizza needs to have cheese though, if you are making an Asian style pizza, you can forgo the cheese. But, if you are using cheese on your pizza, then try to find a good cheese from whatever country inspired your pizza.
>>>Click here for a Stuft-Crust Pizza recipe
The toppings
The toppings are the best part of a pizza and you can really make it creative by using a good variety. For an Irish-style pizza, top with corned beef and potatoes, or for a Jamaican-inspired dish, top with jerk chicken and papaya. Go crazy with the toppings and add what you want, just be sure to keep them well balanced and don’t add too many or the pizza will fall apart.
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