| I recently wrote an article about how to make | | | | distributors and baker supply stores and you may |
| pizza dough at home as more and more people | | | | just get lucky. |
| are trying to find ways to cut costs on their | | | | When it comes to the tomatoes I learned that |
| grocery bills. Around my area you can buy pizza | | | | some of the better pizza sauces are made from |
| from the chains like Pizza Hut and Dominos fairly | | | | San Marzano tomatoes that are grown in Italy |
| cheap but in order to get good pizza from an | | | | near Mt Vesuvius. These tomatoes are grown at |
| Italian place you are looking at probably $9-12 a | | | | the base of the mountain and apparently the |
| pie. If you have to feed a family like I do that | | | | volcanic soil makes the perfect environment for |
| would be at least a $20 evening just for pizza. So, | | | | what many consider the best tomatoes in the |
| I decided to embark on trying to find a pizza that | | | | world. Luckily I was able to find canned whole |
| I could make at home that was every bit as | | | | peeled San Marzano tomatoes in my local grocery |
| good as the good Italian restaurants. However, | | | | store and also at the Italian grocery store so |
| what I found out about the ingredients may | | | | they were not difficult to find. The sauce was |
| surprise you. | | | | easy to make too. I simply opened a 28oz can of |
| Through my research online I found out that | | | | the tomatoes, took the tomatoes out and placed |
| making a pizza that tastes and resembles those | | | | them into a bowl and then crushed them using a |
| found in Italy and good American pizza shops | | | | potato masher. I then added some salt, pepper |
| really comes down to finding the right ingredients. | | | | and oregano and had the most excellent pizza |
| Mainly it's the dough that can make or break your | | | | sauce you could think of. The 28oz cans were |
| pizza as tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese | | | | about $3-5 depending on the brand so they were |
| that are good quality are a little more easy to find | | | | fairly inexpensive considering they were imported |
| at specialty stores. The flour to make a good | | | | from Italy. |
| pizza dough however is not that easy to find. I | | | | Regarding the mozzarella cheese, I'm still |
| was able to determine that pizza shops normally | | | | researching the best method for pizza cheese. All |
| make their dough using either a special high gluten | | | | the pros say that a good blend of mozzarella |
| flour not normally found in stores or speciality | | | | cheese and provolone cheese is the most widely |
| flour that is milled directly in Italy and sold in the | | | | used for a plain New York style Neapolitan pizza. |
| states through food distributors, bakery supply | | | | Because cheese is so widely available in our area |
| stores and sometimes local Italian stores. Believe | | | | (from local grocery stores and farms) I think I'll |
| it or not, the Italian made flour (Cuputo '00') was | | | | continue to experiment until I find the right mix. |
| the easiest to locate in small quantities as my local | | | | So there you have it. The secret to good pizza is |
| Italian store just so happened to carry 2.2lb bags | | | | out and I hope you take the time to research |
| for under $3.00. The High Gluten flour made by | | | | your local market to locate the best pizza |
| companies like General Mills and King Arthur Flour | | | | ingredients your locale has to offer. The bottom |
| were much tougher to locate in small quantities as | | | | line is that I can make a very good Neapolitan |
| they only came in 50 pound bags and were sold | | | | pizza for around $3-4 as opposed to the $9-12 |
| by food distributors who don't normally sell to the | | | | I'm spending at the best pizza place in town. If |
| public. In my search I did find a small store about | | | | you eat pizza as much as my family you will save |
| an hours drive from me that sold hard to find | | | | quite a bit of money over time and have fun in |
| items and actually repackaged the flour in smaller | | | | the process. So get out there and start making |
| 5lb bags to the public. Outside of that store the | | | | your own pizzas, have fun and save some |
| High Gluten flour has been very difficult to locate | | | | money in the process! |
| so take the time to search local stores, food | | | | |