PIZZA

Pizza is a popular product made by using cheese, particularly Mozzarella cheese. The fibrous structure of low moisture Mozzarella enables it melt on pizza to a stringy, elastic comparatively chewy consistency that has come to be accepted as a standard for pizza.

With rapid strides being made in the production of pizza worldwide, production of Mozzarella cheese far exceeds other varieties of cheese. As a result of this, the total demand for Mozzarella cheese has skyrocketed and more nations including United States, Italy along with Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Ireland, India, United Kingdom and New Zealand have augmented their production capacities.

How to prepare pizza?

Pizza preparation provides more of art than science. The pizza base serves as an important factor that has to be taken care of during the manufacture depending upon the taste of the customers.

Recipe

Another alternative is 100 g Maida, 2 g vegetable oil, 1 g salt, 1 g sugar and 2.5 g yeast mixed with 60 ml of water. Generally calcium propionate is added at the recommended dose in the pizza base as a preservative.

How to go?

The sugar and the yeast are dissolved in lukewarm water and the yeast is allowed to bloom for 10-20 min. The oil and the salt are added to the maida and then the yeast water is mixed with it. The consistency of the dough should be soft and not sticky. The content is kneaded well until it attains a very smooth and elastic consistency. The dough is covered well and set aside in a warm place for about 3 h or until the dough enlarges to double its size.

When the dough has enlarged sufficiently, it is spread on a large well greased baking pan to about ½ to ¾ inch thick. The surface of the dough is dented here and there with finger tips and tomato sauce or pizza sauce is liberally added over the entire surface of the base. The amount of sauce required varies with the size and surface area of the base. In general, for a 12 inch round pizza, 85 g of sauce and for 16 inch pizza, 170 g of sauce is required.

The shredded or ground Mozzarella cheese is added at the rate of 210 g for a 12 inch pizza. To augment the flavour component of cheese, sometimes, Parmesan cheese is used at 20 per cent of the total cheese. Finally, cut pieces of onion, tomato, mushroom and other spices are added depending on the local flavour required. When the dough is completely filled, it is baked at 220-230°C for about 15-20 minutes. The end point of the baking is indicated by the melting of the cheese, light browning of the tomatoes and brown colour of the dough with crispy edges.

Now the pizza is ready and serve it hot and enjoy!