Favorite pizza toppings

Let's hear 'em. My favorite go to is just plain cheese with tons and tons of crushed pepper, but when I'm feeling more exciting it's green olives and anchovies or black olives, sardines and red onion. The trouble is finding any dining company on the planet who will agree. :embarassed:

When I was in southern Italy last year, I had some pie that had a bunch of different vegetables on it, I think artichokes and black olives and maybe proscuitto or something for some meat. It was called some Italian word that began with a C and the guy I was eating with said it meant 'like when a little kid wants everything he sees' but I can't for my life remember what the word was. I do remember just about every bite, it's by far the best 'za I've had.

So what's your fav?

Pepperoni and Italian sausage for me. Chicken and Barbecue sauce is also good.

Not necessarily all of those on the same pizza, but any of these toppings are good:
Parma ham
Rucola
Salami
Meatballs
Mozarella
Pesto
Red Onions
Artichokes
Tuna
Spinach

And my best guess is that you are thinking of Calzone?

Aha, found it. I remember at the time thinking the pizza's name was similar to the english word capricious.

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Originally Posted by wiki's pizza page

Pizza capricciosa (“capricious pizza”): mozzarella, tomato, mushrooms, artichokes, cooked ham, olives, oil (in Rome, prosciutto raw ham is used and half a hard-boiled egg is added);

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza

My favourite pizza toppings include:

Beef
Jalopeno
pineaple
onions
cheese

Doesnt sound very Italian, but its hot,sweet and tasty at the same time.More traditional option for me would be:

Bolognese sauce
fresh or sun dried tomatoes
onions
cheese

Choose sparingly from artichoke, spinach, garlic, olives, pine nuts. That sort of stuff.

I'm not big on meat on pizzas. A few shreds of ham just isn't enough of an event.

BTW is it just me or do capers sound like they ought to be a kind of fish? And, what is the point of capers anyway?

Goat's cheese and Parma Ham.

Not for everyone, but I like it.

Otherwise, it's hard to beat the good old tomatoes, basil and mozzarella.

Pretty much anything meat is good. I usually just order teh one with as much meat as possible, though Chicken and Onion is nice as well. One of the local pizza shops I order in from quite often has a pizza which is as follows (From memory...):
Barbecue base
A layer of ham
Bacon
Beef
Pepperoni
Onion

It is so nice. Soooooo much pig...

Cheese and tomato. Anything else just tends to ruin it.

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Originally Posted by Craterus

Cheese and tomato. Anything else just tends to ruin it.

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There's a lot to be said for that. Naples just got some sort of EU or UN sanction to own the rights to "real pizza"; hand-spun dough, tomato sauce, buffalo mozarella, basil, and extra virgin olive oil. Dat's it, ba-da-bing!

You can get some excellent fresh organic deer sausage around here, so my favorite, I think, is apple and maple syrup deer sausage with extra old cheddar and loads of hot peppers and garlic.

The maple syrup in the deer sausage oozes out on the cheddar while it's cooking and the sweetness with the hot peppers is just killer! :chef:

Less is more! Thin crust with just tomato, cheese, herbs/garlic/olive oil, and sparingly used toppings. Me, I'm a sucker for salami.

I almost never order toppings as they can raise the cost significantly. All I usually ask for in the way of toppings is extra sauce; it's pretty much the healthiest addition you can make to a pizza.

However, I did have a particularly good pizza at a restaurants back home that had, if I remember correctly, green and red peppers, chicken, mushrooms, spinach and feta cheese. It seems an odd combination, but it worked well.

Tomato, mozzarella, black olives, anchovy in summer (salt), artichoke in winter.

However, the crust and the drink to go with it are the most important aspects of a 'za. For me it is spumante all the way.

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Originally Posted by Adrian II and Proletariat

'Za.

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:stare:

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Originally Posted by Reverend Joe

:stare:

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That's right.

'Za.

Wanna take this outside? :brood:

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Originally Posted by Adrian II

Wanna take this outside? :brood:

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A Backroom pizza thread?

That could be interesting. ~:yin-yang:

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Originally Posted by Beirut

A Backroom pizza thread?

That could be interesting. ~:yin-yang:

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That's what I meant. I would take care of this of course, and we would leave Proletariat out of it; we want to spare the Reverend the humiliation of being plastered onto his own pizza in five seconds flat by a woman of her considerable capacities.

All this would obviously have to take place in the Backroom, dear Beirut. Heaven forbid that we would desecrate the Frontroom by spilling the blood and entrails of the Reverend all over the Kingdoms floor, chopping his ungainly head off and putting it on a spike -- all this simply because he refuses to accept culinary slang.

No, Sir, that wouldn't do at all. Out of the question. :no:

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Originally Posted by Adrian II

Heaven forbid that we would desecrate the Frontroom by spilling the blood and entrails of the Reverend all over the Kingdoms floor, chopping his ungainly head off and putting it on a spike...

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:knight: "And the mad mothers, with their howls confused, do break the clouds!"

Pardon.

Indeed. Our Frontroomish savagery is best expressed in pangs of unrequited lust and love in The Babe Thread. ~:smoking:


Ok, pizza...

Anything other than seafood, olives or artichokes.

I agree that 'za sounds pretty weird, gotta have to beat a german as well now Adrian, good luck... :dozey:

Well, generally I like salami piz', tuna is nice as well, mozarella is ok and most of the others I don't have too often, although often they taste better than I expect, as usual with italian food. :2thumbsup:

Still not a fan of too many groceries and mushrooms on a piz'.

I also never ordered one with special toppings, always go for the ones on the menu or, more likely, buy them frozen because they cost only half as much then.

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Originally Posted by Rythmic

Anything other than seafood, olives or artichokes.

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So uh, you like those baked cockroaches as toppings too? :grin:

Hot peppers, onions and a tomato sauce on the base, that's it. No more no less.

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Originally Posted by Beirut

:knight: "And the mad mothers.. "

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:knight: "Stand firm, oh guardians of the.. "

.. snap!..

Sssso, who likes chorizo on his pizza? Or is that just too dominant a taste?

I use it as replacement for anchovy sometimes. :2thumbsup:

All depends. Pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms, olives make for a good combo, but the ham/pineapple combo of a Hawaiian is good as well.

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Originally Posted by drone

but the ham/pineapple combo of a Hawaiian is good as well.

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the best the bestthe best the bestthe best the bestthe best the bestthe best the best

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chorizo on his pizza

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Don't think I could go for that, I like my chorizo on a long fork, cooked over an open fire in the taberna and washed down with lashings of rioja, and Manolo the flamenco singer wailing away in the shadows :book:

But for pizza, garlic mushroom is about my favourite.

The big no-no for me is sweetcorn - I like sweetcorn, I like pizza, but I hate sweetcorn falling all over the place when I'm trying to eat my pizza ~D

double pepperoni...

or spinach + egg



:idea2:

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Originally Posted by English assassin

And, what is the point of capers anyway?

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Putting them on a pizza with tuna and onions :2thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Poor Bloody Infantry

Goat's cheese and Parma Ham.

Not for everyone, but I like it.

Otherwise, it's hard to beat the good old tomatoes, basil and mozzarella.

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What he said :yes:

Very thin pizza with a crunchy crust, topped with hot salami [the thin very hard kind], buffalo mozarella, freh tomatos...maybe a bit of fresh basil...that is it....generally not too much topping ion my pizza please.

Oh, I am hungry....may I order here?!?!?

Veggies have no place on pizza. (and for those who are going to bring up the tomato paste, tomatoes aren't vegetables.)

I always get the 'meat lovers' or 'pepperoni lovers'. Unfortunately, I'm starting to get heart-burn when I eat pizza so I've had to cut back...

-_-

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Originally Posted by Adrian II

Tomato, mozzarella, black olives, anchovy in summer (salt), artichoke in winter.

However, the crust and the drink to go with it are the most important aspects of a 'za. For me it is spumante all the way.

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Hrmmm, sounds yummy. Gotta agree about the crust, for me it has to be paper thin crust. The Sicilian style served in NY and the Chicago thick slice taste like I'm biting into a doughy sponge. Wood fire charred, crispy thin 'za is the only way to go for me

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y2...1/IMG_0591.jpg
pic swiped from someone on photobucket since imageshack has died out three times posting my own pic

Chorizo imo is something that sounds good for a little kick, but last time I had it on a slice was with a little feta and the combination was (no real surprise) far too overwhelming.

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Originally Posted by English assassin

BTW is it just me or do capers sound like they ought to be a kind of fish? And, what is the point of capers anyway?

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When I was younger I was surprised to found out capers weren't a fish or small animal or something too. I dunno what their point is but we need them for puttanesca so don't go throwing them out. :shrug:

Chicken, Green Peppers, Onions, Black Olives, and some kind of rich cheese.

Mmm

I agree on thin crusts, I want to eat a piz', not bread.

Had a piz' tonno today, bought frozen but it was very tasty IMO. :2thumbsup:

I'm with RJ and others.

'Za is just... :brood:

Relax. They are just taking the piz 'za think.

Devilled kidneys, on a layer of tomato, cheese (Cheddar and the Italian stuff), English mustard, lashings of Worcestershire sauce, with a fried egg on top. Delish.

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Originally Posted by King Henry V

Devilled kidneys, on a layer of tomato, cheese (Cheddar and the Italian stuff), English mustard, lashings of Worcestershire sauce, with a fried egg on top. Delish.

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You, sir, are the most particular of hedonists. :beatnik2:


Tonight, pizza wise, is jumbo shrimp on nan bread with old cheddar and hot peppers.

And a really :daisy: big beer.

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Originally Posted by Beirut

Tonight, pizza wise, is jumbo shrimp on nan bread with old cheddar and hot peppers.

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Bravo! :2thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by King Henry V

Devilled kidneys, on a layer of tomato, cheese (Cheddar and the Italian stuff), English mustard, lashings of Worcestershire sauce, with a fried egg on top. Delish.

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:scared:

I will consume one of either A> mushrooms OR B> pepperoni. Everything else, blarg.

I like lots of meat with my piz' cheese and extra cheese, BBQ sauce is an amazing addition to any piz' as well as chicken and pepperoni, bacons nice too!

Gots to have shrooms baby!!! Lots and lots of shrooms!!!:yes:

Tomato Juice
Cheese
Heart of Palm.

Teh Pwnage.

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Originally Posted by King Henry V

Devilled kidneys, on a layer of tomato, cheese (Cheddar and the Italian stuff), English mustard, lashings of Worcestershire sauce, with a fried egg on top. Delish.

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Originally Posted by Beirut

Tonight, pizza wise, is jumbo shrimp on nan bread with old cheddar and hot peppers.

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What the ..hell? This isn't some 'throw the left overs on some unleavened bread' discussion! It's about 'za, and neither of these offerings qualify.

I can go haute with the toppings once in awhile but these suggestions are off the deep end. They belong in funky-fusion recipe collections and no where near any respected wood fire oven.

:stare: :chef: :stare:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I was certain a pizza toppings thread so close to the backroom would turn into an all out flame war. I even stoked the flames a bit with an imbecilic nickname for pizza, yet this has been about as civil as can be for such an expression of individuality.

And Beirut! Shrimp + Cheddar? :no:

That sounds like such a disgusting pairing there must be something fantastic about it. You make your own nan?
PS. Set an extra place at the dinner table, I'm on my way

I've done some pretty stupid things with my mouth and pizza is no exception. The only topping I've had that I didn't like was the infamous anchovy. Shrimp, nacho chips, almonds, it's all good. I haven't yet managed to convince the guy taking my order to Skittles on my pizza, though. They all seem to think I'm joking.

Also important: Pepperoni under the cheese or on top?

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Originally Posted by GoreBag

nacho chips

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:shame:

Mushrooms
Italian sausage or Canadian bacon
Mushrooms
Green or black olives -- plain, I love the green ones more, but both are equally excellent on pizza
Mushrooms


I've also discovered I love chicken pizza. Who'd have thunk it? :dizzy2:

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Originally Posted by GoreBag

I've done some pretty stupid things with my mouth and pizza is no exception. The only topping I've had that I didn't like was the infamous anchovy. Shrimp, nacho chips, almonds, it's all good. I haven't yet managed to convince the guy taking my order to Skittles on my pizza, though. They all seem to think I'm joking.

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This is the advantage of making the pizza yourself, you can put whatever weird topping you like on it. I'm partial to gorgonzola myself, Skittles sound a little too extreme for me.

Oh and can someone please explain to me, Hawaiian pizza? What's pineapple doing on a pizza?

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Also important: Pepperoni under the cheese or on top?

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Pepperoni on the top. That's how you know the pizza is done, when the meat turns black and starts smoking.

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Originally Posted by Poor Bloody Infantry

Oh and can someone please explain to me, Hawaiian pizza? What's pineapple doing on a pizza?

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Never liked that either until I got to college and had to eat some more frozen pizzas. It was alright then within reason.

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Originally Posted by Poor Bloody Infantry

Pepperoni on the top. That's how you know the pizza is done, when the meat turns black and starts smoking.

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When it turns black and starts smoking you know you may get cancer some time down the road if you eat it :yes:
Should be at best black around the edges, but not yet overly shriveled. Any more than that goes into the bin.

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Originally Posted by FactionHeir

When it turns black and starts smoking you know you may get cancer some time down the road if you eat it :yes:

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I know, I know. Although what others would call "burnt to cinders" I would call "done just right", I draw the line when starts smoking. But then I am cursed with the type of oven which leaves food cold and raw for forty minutes and then incinerates it in under a minute.

My point is, if it's under the cheese, it won't go crispy at all, which is no good at all. :no:

Try a lower temperature for longer then. That ensures it doesn't burn and is well cooked. Of course it won't make your food crispy that way...though you can turn it up higher for a few minutes at the end to try.

All right, lots of toppings listed now, it compelled me to check what a pizza actually was meant to be, the dictionary states :

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Italian open pie made of thin bread dough spread with a spiced mixture of e.g. tomato sauce and cheese.

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Anyway, moving on back to topic, can we talk pies now? what kinds of pizza base do people here like? I prefer a thick pie, crisp outside and soft and chewy inside.

It's about the sauce and cheese on fresh bread. The ingredients and prep of that sauce base will make or break a 'za for me.

I'm all multi-cultural on toppings: whatever is the local, fresh speciality works for me. Therefore: pineapple in Hawai'i, seafood in Calif, beef product in Chicago, pork in Kansas City, cold-cuts in NYC, pickled kidneys in UK - all fine with me - as long as the base rocks to start with. There's little more dissappointing then taking a slice that 'looks' interesting, only to find on chewing that the base is merely a half-step up from ketchup with oregano added.

I wonder what kind of 'Chinese Pizza' will get served in Beijing to the Olympics tourists. Bean sprouts? Water chestnuts?

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Originally Posted by Proletariat

What the ..hell? This isn't some 'throw the left overs on some unleavened bread' discussion! It's about 'za, and neither of these offerings qualify.

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We all enjoy our own particular culinary perversions. ~:wacko:

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Originally Posted by Proletariat

And Beirut! Shrimp + Cheddar? :no:

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I refer you to my previous sentence.

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Originally Posted by Proletariat

You make your own nan?

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No, for though often baked, I bake not.

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Originally Posted by Proletariat

PS. Set an extra place at the dinner table, I'm on my way[/SPOIL]

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Tempt me not, dear lady, Mrs. Beirut is out of town for three days and my morality rests fragile indeed.

What a great thread! My favourite is chicken, black and garbanzo beans, and lots of garam masala with a little extra cumin. Mmmm... some very interesting toppings - GoreBag wins on the *yick* factor.

I'd definitely have to disagree about the thin crust though. We make our own about once a week, and the crust is the best part - flour, salt, sugar, yeast, kneaded till it's nice and elastic, rolled out thin with room to grow, plopped on a pan smothered in extra virgin olive oil, and topped with, as KukriKhan says, whatever happens to be fresh that day, baked at 235 C for about ten minutes... what's on top makes a difference, but I could just eat the bread and be perfectly happy.

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Originally Posted by Proletariat

What the ..hell? This isn't some 'throw the left overs on some unleavened bread' discussion! It's about 'za, and neither of these offerings qualify.

I can go haute with the toppings once in awhile but these suggestions are off the deep end. They belong in funky-fusion recipe collections and no where near any respected wood fire oven.

:stare: :chef: :stare:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I was certain a pizza toppings thread so close to the backroom would turn into an all out flame war. I even stoked the flames a bit with an imbecilic nickname for pizza, yet this has been about as civil as can be for such an expression of individuality.

And Beirut! Shrimp + Cheddar? :no:

That sounds like such a disgusting pairing there must be something fantastic about it. You make your own nan?
PS. Set an extra place at the dinner table, I'm on my way

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In my defence for such a seemingly unusual dish, I must point out that the origins of the pizza lie in a simple piece of bread covered in whatever poor Neapolitans could get their hands on, such as tomato, anchovies, herbs and later cheese. It was this same principle that I applied when I returned one morning from a party that went on far longer than I had originally anticipated, and feeling a bit under the weather and in need of substantial nourishment, and also in view of time (9 o'clock), I decided to make a breakfast style pizza, by simply taking the pizza from the fridge and using whatever was at hand. After that and a few hours sleep, yours truly was feeling decidedly better!

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Originally Posted by Beirut

You, sir, are the most particular of hedonists.


Tonight, pizza wise, is jumbo shrimp on nan bread with old cheddar and hot peppers.

And a really big beer.

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I say, I think it would be an excellent idea if we started a restaurant together? What do you think? Take the culinary world by storm!

An ideal pizza has:

-onions (plenty of them)
-olives (green or black, just not with pits!)
-mozarella
-bacon

Optionals: artichok (sp?), mushrooms, spinach, salami

I don't usually eat seafood but sometimes I induldge in tuna. I hate pinapple.

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Originally Posted by Tamur

I'd definitely have to disagree about the thin crust though. We make our own about once a week, and the crust is the best part - flour, salt, sugar, yeast, kneaded till it's nice and elastic, rolled out thin with room to grow, plopped on a pan smothered in extra virgin olive oil, and topped with, as KukriKhan says, whatever happens to be fresh that day, baked at 235 C for about ten minutes... what's on top makes a difference, but I could just eat the bread and be perfectly happy.

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Definitely getting the base right is the most important part. With really good freshly made dough you can pretty much put anything on top (well, maybe not some of the more "exotic" combinations suggested in this thread) and it'll taste good. Plus if you decide you don't fancy pizza you can always bake it into bread instead. And most importantly you get the smell of cooking pizza which is almost as nice as eating it.

I tend to go for a dab of olive oil in the dough itself rather than on the pan, guess it probably amounts to the same thing in the end. Never tried adding sugar, how much do you add?

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Originally Posted by FactionHeir

Try a lower temperature for longer then.

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Don't you find the base doesn't cook properly then? I was taught to believe that pizza needs a hot oven.

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Originally Posted by Poor Bloody Infantry

Never tried adding sugar, how much do you add?

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Oh... enough to make the yeast happy while proofing. We're usually in a bloody hurry ~:) Depending on the time of year (it is bitter cold here in January) about a tablespoon or a bit more per crust (7.5 dl flour)

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Originally Posted by Poor Bloody Infantry

Don't you find the base doesn't cook properly then? I was taught to believe that pizza needs a hot oven.

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'zakly. This is belly-warming, mouth-fulfilling, peasant food for Pete's sake. Both ancient and professional baking ovens have two settings: Hell, and Off. Slow and gentle works fine for thick roasts and quiche, but you want a omg-hot oven to scare the 'za (maybe: Tza?) into submission. :)

Yeah, a 900 degree wood fire or charcoal oven is pretty much essential for the crispy crust I like. The only way I know you can come close at home is by taking a cast iron skillet and putting it in the oven at 450 for awhile, then flipping it upside down, laying the 'za on top, and then throwing it in the broiler for a few minutes. This is such a frigging hassle I just go to one of the few shops around here that I think do it right.

:sweatdrop: