Pizza Manuals

Making your own pizzas is a time consuming process, but will be a very rewarding experience. You can make your own pizza that is just as tasty and high in quality as those sold in pizza restaurants. You don't have to be a pizza guru or a chef to make a good home made pizza. So check out some pizza manuals that will teach you how to make your favorite pizzas. The basic steps in creating you own pizza include dough preparation, addition of toppings, and cooking in an oven.

Let's start with a famous pizza style of the United States. The Chicago-style pizza, or deep dish pizza contains a crust which is formed up the sides of a deep dish pan. It reverses the order of ingredients, using crust, cheese, filling, then sauce on top. Some versions (usually referred to as "stuffed") have two layers of crust with the sauce on top. Deep dish pizza was purportedly invented and first served in 1943 at Pizzeria Uno, which is still operating along with its twin restaurant, Pizzeria Due, in the River North neighborhood of Chicago.

To prepare the dough for the Chicago Style pizza, you will need 1 package active dry yeast, 2 teaspoons of Sugar, 1 1/4 cups Warm water, 2 3/4 cups All-purpose flour, 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, 3 tablespoons of Olive oil and 1 teaspoon of Salt.

For the toppings of the Chicago Style Pizza you will need 1 cup Pizza sauce,12 oz. Shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/2 lb. Ground beef, crumbled, cooked 1/4 pound Italian Sausage, crumbled, cooked 1/4 pound Pork Sausage, crumbled, cooked 1/2 cup Pepperoni, diced 1/2 cup Canadian bacon, diced 1/2 cup Ham, diced 1/4 lb. Mushrooms, sliced 1 small Onion, sliced 1 Green bell pepper, seeded, sliced 2 oz. Grated Parmesan cheese.

Here is the step by step manual for the cooking and preparation of the Chicago Style Pizza.

For dough, sprinkle yeast and sugar into warm water in small bowl; allow to stand until it becomes foamy, which takes about 5 minutes. Mix flour, cornmeal, oil and salt in a large bowl and then make a well in the center and add yeast mixture. Stir to form a soft dough, adding more flour if needed. Turn onto a floured board and knead until dough is supple and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, cover and let rise in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, taking about 1 hour. Punch down dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a size of about 12-13 inch circle. Transfer to an oiled 12-13 inch pizza pan, folding the excess over to make a small rim. Spread with pizza sauce; sprinkle with all but a handful of the mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with the toppings such as meats and vegetables. Top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Let rise in a warm spot for approximately 25 minutes. Heat oven to 475 degrees. Bake your Chicago Style pizza until crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. There you go, your Chicago Style Pizza is ready for serving!