Pizza & Pasta

Pizza Recipes

This article is part of “The Pizza Issue”, our month-long dive into everyone’s* favorite food. We’re sharing playful new recipes, talking pizza tools and toppings, and answering all your burning (but hopefully not burnt) pizza questions. Join our pizza party by checking out <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/were-dedicating-an-entire-month-to-everyones-favorite-food-pizza">this link</a> for an overview of all our latest stories and recipes—and don’t forget to follow us on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kitchenstories_official/" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a> for behind the scenes, extra pizza content, and so much more!

You don’t need the perfect equipment to make pizza at home. Sure it’s possible to deck yourself out like a pro (for tips on that scroll down), but it can also be expensive, especially when the ONLY two things you absolutely need to make pizza at home are a baking sheet and an oven. Pizza is truly a food for the people!

And yet, we are creatures obsessed with self-improvement, with fine tuning, with the belief that just one more thing will make us happy. The latter is not always true (hi mindfulness!), but there are a few little tools that can prove very helpful in churning out delicious homemade pizzas.

Let us take you on a journey through the knick-knacks, starting with cheap and cheerful and going all the way up to gear for the pizzaiolo-in-training.

1.Baking sheets: Flat, rimmed, or round? Does it really matter?

While I did say that you don’t need more than a baking sheet and oven to make pizza at home, I lied—a little. In my humble opinion, the best baking sheet for making pizza in a home oven, of any type, is a<a href="https://amzn.to/3sF2epI" rel="nofollow"> rimmed baking sheet, measuring in at about 10 in x 15 in x 1</a> in (30 x 40 x 3 cm). It’s the perfect size for 2 hungry people or a few snacky ones! Plus, the size means you can stretch your dough to fit the pan (something that’s hard to achieve with your sheet pans with slanted edges) and get crispy edges all the way ‘round. <a href="https://amzn.to/2QjZKQF" rel="nofollow">A round pizza pan</a> isn’t a must, but can be helpful when shaping finicky doughs like a <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/cheesy-cauliflower-pizza-with-shaved-asparagus">cauliflower-crust pizza.</a>

2. Captain obvious: A few notes on your oven

Of course there are supposed hacks, but to make a pizza that’s crispy on the outside with an ideal puffed-up crust and adequately melted toppings—you do need an oven. But, I do hear you asking, what setting should I cook my pizza on? All ovens aren’t made equal. Some boast a fancy pizza setting which pumps out a fierce heat from the bottom of the oven and uses a fan to keep the hot air circulating all around the pizza. For your standard oven, top and bottom heat (with a fan if you have it, but no worries if not) is the most reliable, as is cooking your pizza on the mid to low racks of the oven so you can ensure a crisp base and *not burnt* crust. Some recipes call for finishing the pizza with an extra blast from the broiler, an option if you want to get a bit more browning on the cheese or crust.

It’s nigh impossible to write an article about cooking equipment without stressing the need for prep bowls of various sizes; the same is true here. At the very least, you’ll need a big bowl to let your dough rise in, and you might want to put other bowls to use for sauce, topping prep, and so on. In our minds, you can’t beat a stack of<a href="https://amzn.to/2QeqcLE" rel="nofollow"> nesting glass prep bowls</a>—they’re heatproof, durable, and can pass as “real bowls” for serving from or eating in. Win, win, win.

Excellent *extra* pizza tools, on a budget

4. Scissors—behold the tool that cuts, not scrapes!

Devan, Managing Editor: If you&#x27;ve never cut your pizza with a pair of scissors, I would argue that you&#x27;re doing it wrong. I first came across them while working as an intern in the office of TV personality and chef <a href="https://andrewzimmern.com/" rel="nofollow">Andrew Zimmern</a>. We ordered pizza for lunch at least once a week, and when I saw these<a href="https://amzn.to/3ati7ti" rel="nofollow"> pizza scissors</a> come out and do their job in a quick flash, I was stunned and immediately changed into a fervent pizza scissors advocate.

I find them easier to use than the <a href="https://amzn.to/32BjUs2" rel="nofollow">pizza wheel</a> for a few reasons. Number one, you can use scissors to cut the pizza anywhere, there&#x27;s no chance they will cut or scratch the surface, unlike with the pizza wheel. Number two, they stay sharp! Number three, they can slice through any thickness or style of pizza (even focaccia) with ease. And lastly, multipurpose kitchen tools are much better when you have a small space (as I do), so getting rid of a pizza wheel allowed me to make room on my utensils rack for another <a href="https://amzn.to/3gupC74" rel="nofollow">microplane</a> (yay!) While there are scissors that are specifically made for the task of pizza (or focaccia) cutting with angled blades or even plastic pizza-slice-holding-nonsense attached, your regular old <a href="https://amzn.to/3v67i8m" rel="nofollow">kitchen scissors</a> work just as well—if not better. Now go, spread the word of the pizza scissors!

Lisa, Senior Editor: The bench scraper (also called a dough or pastry scraper) has proven to be irreplaceable for me in the kitchen. It helps me scrape dried-up dough scraps or other ingredients from the countertop, portion pizza dough, and handle sticky dough <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-easy-neapolitan-style-pizza-with-lisa">(like in this recipe</a>) with ease. It also easily ferries a lot of finely chopped vegetables from cutting board to pot with a flick of the wrist. I recommend a stainless steel one, because it can hop straight into the dishwasher after you’ve used it. <a href="https://amzn.to/3auaYce" rel="nofollow">I love this one in particular because it fits so well in your hand</a>.

Traditionally, I’ve been the lazier one in my household when it comes to pizza making (<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/were-dedicating-an-entire-month-to-everyones-favorite-food-pizza">this month</a> has changed me for the better), happy to switch on my oven’s pizza setting, but less likely to remember to heat up the pizza stone. This month, I paired my favorite sheet-pan pizzas (hello <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/grandma-style-pizza">my eldest</a>, <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/5-ingredient-cacio-e-pepe-pizza">my middle child</a>, and the newborn) with a warmed pizza stone, preheated in the oven for at least 30 minutes to conduct some serious degrees. I’m not going to bother to drum up the suspense here: Every time I remembered to use the pizza stone, it was worth it! With both the contact of the pizza stone and the sheet-pan the olive-oily bath at the bottom of the pan helped the dough crisp up into a golden-browned crust rather than a thin-skinned base. If your biggest fear of homemade pizzas is a bendy bottom, a pizza stone—which conducts heat and throws it up into the crust—is your best answer.

<a href="https://amzn.to/32Dmqh6" rel="nofollow">You don’t need to splash out on an expensive pizza stone</a>, as they can be prone to cracking spontaneously (to guard against this, always put them into the oven to heat up from cold and not shock them into a hot hot hot oven), and tend to all be made of a similar material at the various price points, in any case. If you want an even better conductor of heat—keep scrolling to Steven’s glowing endorsement of steel pizza plates. Note: I did catch both Hanna and Lisa on various shoots this month upturn a sheet pan and place it on the bottom of the oven as an ersatz pizza stone. It works exceptionally well as a quick fix.

For restaurant-worthy Parmesan shavings, open your kitchen drawer—you most likely already own it! No, it’s not your box grater, it’s your <a href="https://amzn.to/3tG7NFI" rel="nofollow">vegetable peeler</a>—our chef Hanna and Christian’s go-to to elevate pizzas, pasta, risotto, salads and more. Plating art is only a flick of the wrist away!

We all love to make it snow Parmesan onto our pasta—but this month I’ve become rather fond of doing so over pizza too, influenced by <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-easy-neapolitan-style-pizza-with-lisa">Lisa who added Parmesan and lemon zest to her Margherita pizza on set</a>, and with that, changed my life for the better. <a href="https://amorestore.de/haushaltswaren/138-17-rigamonti-parmesanreibe.html" rel="nofollow">I bought this adorable grater from our Italophile mainstay in Berlin, The Amore Store</a>—and look forward to letting it have pride of place on my table at all future pizza parties, which currently are my visualisation of choice for a brighter future and something I hope the intensity of my thoughts can manifest, soon. Just insert a wedge of Parmesan, wind, and <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories">watch it rain cheese</a>, but chic.

9.  A pizza peel: The best mode of transport your pizza dough could ask for

Lisa, Senior Editor: A <a href="https://amzn.to/3xfNYHN" rel="nofollow">pizza peel</a> is not a must, but it does make the pizza-making-at-home life that much easier. I cover it with a layer of baking paper once the oven is preheated and place my stretched pizza dough on top. I then pull it around to shape it a little further, which is a breeze thanks to the baking paper and a little flour. As soon as it has been topped, I slide the pizza, still on the baking paper, super smoothly into the oven, thanks to the <a href="https://amzn.to/3xo8O7U" rel="nofollow">pizza peel</a> (for small kitchens, go for a shorter handle)! Some of you reading might be silently crying out at this point, because the pizza should have direct contact with the hot stone or baking tray for a crispy bottom. But with this tactic, I always achieved the best results: no toppings sliding around, no holes in the thin base, and perfectly round pizzas. As soon as the pizza has baked enough to retain its shape, I remove the baking paper (again, with the help of the pizza peel) which creates a reliable barrier between my skin and the hot oven. <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-easy-neapolitan-style-pizza-with-lisa">You can watch the process in action in this video</a>.

Splash-out on these pizza making upgrades

10. Newsflash: Introducing the steel pizza plate

Steven, Operations Assistant: Splash out on a steel pizza plate. It’s better at transferring heat, giving you a better rise, and it&#x27;s virtually indestructible. Here’s <a href="https://slice.seriouseats.com/2012/09/the-pizza-lab-the-baking-steel-delivers.html" rel="nofollow">J. Kenji López-Alt from Serious Eats with a comparison</a>. It’s worth the extra money if you like baking (I use it for everything bread like naan and ciabatta) as it will last a lifetime (unlike a pizza stone which is prone to cracking, as mentioned above). I got mine from <a href="http://pizzasteel.com/" rel="nofollow">The Pizza Steel</a>. They do a great “Steel and Peel” deal (yes, I came for the steel, but couldn&#x27;t “peel” myself away from the website) and they make different sizes to fit different ovens. I can honestly say it&#x27;s one of my favorite tools in the kitchen!

11. Nice tools, but should I buy a pizza oven?

To answer, I’ve brought in Lukas, expert in all things refined, as you might have noticed from his <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/how-to-make-a-really-good-cup-of-coffee-at-home">barista-level coffee brewing instructions.</a> It doesn’t stop there, here I bring you his pizzaiolo side—in particular the challenge he set himself to bake a “Canotto” style pizza, that is, a pizza much like the Neapolitan pizza, but that aims to be ringed by the puffiest of outer crusts. How do I manage to bake a canotto-style pizza at home? The answer doesn’t sound easy: A highly-hydrated dough, some pizzaiolo skills and an incredibly hot oven (about 450 - 500°C). First and second, no problem, but the third poses a problem: What kind of oven will even reach that temperature? And more to the point: At home? An upgrade was needed. My choice fell on a <a href="https://eu.gozney.com/products/roccbox?gclid=CjwKCAjwmv-DBhAMEiwA7xYrd8YjZvuEqT4UAgET3ckSuvdGmJdrAfjSLhq5O5g3GJIz2OMJXQkuARoCAl8QAvD_BwE&amp;variant=34248925282436" rel="nofollow">Roccbox</a>, a hellishly hot, portable pizza oven made by Gozney. The advantage of the Roccbox is that the high temperatures mean I can not only bake canotto-style pizzas, but also make terrific steaks. At lower temperatures, tarte flambée, fish and vegetables are a breeze. 2 years and countless canottos later, I still have so much fun with my Roccbox and would never think of trading it in.

Got a favorite pizza tool? Let us know in the comments...

Pizza making tools that won’t break the bank (and one that will)

11 Handy Tools You'll Want (But Don't Need) To Make Homemade Pizza

Making pizza at home can be easy, it can be casual, but it can also be fraught with uncertainties, which lead to questions; lots of them. We’ve dedicated ourselves to answering all your pizza-related questions in <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/were-dedicating-an-entire-month-to-everyones-favorite-food-pizza">The Pizza Issue</a>, but after asking you (and various colleagues) what your burning (as in, “I need an answer right now, please!” not, “It’s burned!”) pizza questions were, we made a one-stop-shop (aka this article) to answer them all!

Before we jump right in, let me give you a few tips on how to make the best use of this article: It’s intended as a resource, not an obligatory “read to the end in one sitting”. So, if you’re reading this article on a desktop, use your “command + f” function to search for specific keywords that you might be interested in and hop between sections to find the answers relevant to you! If you’re reading this on a mobile device, it may behoove you to scroll through rather quickly, stopping and reading when you see specific questions relevant to you.

All that being said, I hope the answers you can find here help solve any of your home pizza making questions. If you have questions that aren’t already addressed, let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them or direct you to resources that can help!

Well, it depends on who ask… according to many (if not most), what we know as the modern pizza was invented in Naples on June 11, 1889, when Queen Margherita visited the city, was served a yeasted dough topped with white cheese, red tomatoes, and green basil (an homage to the Italian flag). Thus the pizza Margherita was born, and the rest was history. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple, and that answer doesn’t give due credit to the history of flatbreads and toppings around the world that could also be seen as important precursors to modern-day pizza. Persian flatbreads studded with dates and cheese (which one of our favorite chefs, <a href="https://www.hellosohla.com/" rel="nofollow">Solha El-Waylly</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z84j41b5Z7s" rel="nofollow">makes here</a>) or ancient Greek plakous could be the earliest versions of a pizza-like flatbread. So, to answer the question, this is a hotly debated topic that scholars, historians, and foodies alike will likely never agree on. Where we probably can agree? We’re incredibly thankful to have pizza in our lives!

How do I get the crust to be crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside?

The key to that “crispy on the outside” crust is two-fold: olive oil and oven temperature. Many recipes for pizza dough call for olive oil in <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/how-to-make-the-perfect-pizza-dough">the crust itself</a>, this can be for flavor of course, but it can also help the dough fend off any water from the toppings and make the crust turn out that much crisper after baking. It will also help to brown the crust as it bakes, so if you’re having trouble with very white crust-ed pizzas and want some golden brown action in your home oven, try lightly brushing some olive oil all over the crust before topping and baking it—like I do with my <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-pizza-babka-supreme-with-devan">pizza babka</a>.

Most (if not all) home ovens just can’t reach the temperature of a pizza oven, and that’s okay, you can still get fabulously crispy crusts at home, just preheat your oven as high as it can go and use what you have (a <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/11-handy-tools-you-ll-want-but-don-t-need-to-make-homemade-pizza">pizza stone maybe</a> or an upside-down baking sheet as <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-easy-neapolitan-style-pizza-with-lisa">Lisa opts for</a>), preheating that as well, in order to get that pizza crust the best chance it has to react quickly and bake up to a perfect crisp. To get that “fluffy on the inside” crust, it all comes down to time and technique. The yeast in your dough needs time to create all those air bubbles in your dough (this happens while the yeast feasts on the sugars in the flour and produces carbon dioxide that gets trapped in the dough), so allowing the dough to proof long enough (either in the fridge or at room temperature) is incredibly important to turn what begins as a dense dough into something airy and light. Once the dough has achieved your perfect proof (this can range anywhere from 1 hour at room temperature to up to 3 days in the fridge), it’s important to shape the dough in a way that keeps those air bubbles (or as many as possible) intact. Watch and learn <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-easy-neapolitan-style-pizza-with-lisa">Lisa’s technique here</a>.

Is a pizza oven necessary or are there hacks to achieve a perfect pizza in the heat-range normal oven?

The answer to this question is no, <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/11-handy-tools-you-ll-want-but-don-t-need-to-make-homemade-pizza">a pizza oven</a> is not necessary to make really good pizza at home! You can, to some extent, hack your regular oven by using the highest heat setting, adjusting the racks properly so the pizza is close (but not too close) to the top heat source, and matching that with a preheated pizza (or baking) stone or an overturned baking sheet and, when ready to bake, actually broiling the pizza in the super hot, preheated oven. Of course these hacks will only get you so far. If you’re a really avid home pizza maker and the thought of a crust without the telltale leopard char just makes you angry, then it might be worth <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/11-handy-tools-you-ll-want-but-don-t-need-to-make-homemade-pizza">investing in a pizza oven</a>. However, for most of us, a hacked home oven will work wonders.

Is a pizza stone necessary and if so, what's the right one?

A <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/11-handy-tools-you-ll-want-but-don-t-need-to-make-homemade-pizza">pizza stone</a> is not a necessity for making great pizzas at home. Using an overturned baking sheet offers a similar effect, blasting the crust with direct heat right as it gets into the oven to help puff it up, but also to crisp up the bottom crust. Most pizza stones are ceramic, which helps them maintain an even heat that isn’t possible with metal baking sheets, but when <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/a10608/tested-does-a-pizza-stone-really-make-a-better-crust-16859308/" rel="nofollow">put to the test</a> in a head-to-head battle, the differences are barely noticeable. If you’re an avid baker and have a pizza or baking stone, by all means use it! But if you’re on the edge, thinking about whether the investment is worth it, we’d recommend searching for a cheaper option over a more expensive one. Why? The material doesn’t differ too much between most brands and they have the tendency to crack, so investing too much money in them just isn’t worth it and a cheap one will do the job!

This is a funny question, I’ll give you that, however it is sort of interesting, especially if framed like this: Is there one correct way to eat pizza? The answer is, well, no; there are lots of ways to eat pizza, although maybe not all of them are “proper.” When looking into this, I found it pretty hilarious that Google brought up 39 million search results when I asked it this question,—and of course, when scanning through them, everyone thinks their method is the only way. I will make no such claim. There are some more popular ways to eat pizza than others (<a href="https://www.bonappetit.com/story/how-to-eat-a-slice-of-pizza" rel="nofollow">“the fold” being preferable to many over the “the flop”</a>; a knife and fork being necessary for <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/your-quick-guide-to-the-most-popular-pizza-styles">Neapolitan and deep dish</a>), but in my opinion, as long as you get the pizza into your mouth and you enjoy it with minimal sauce and topping spillage (unless you enjoy stains and losing all your cheese), you’ve got it right!

When should I use yeast and when should I use sourdough starter?

This question is all a matter of preference (some people prefer the taste of sourdough crusts), technique, and experience. If you are confident working with <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/the-simplified-guide-to-making-sourdough-starter-at-home">sourdough starters</a> and baking bread with sourdough, you should and can for sure make a delicious sourdough pizza dough. If however, you are new to sourdough, not super confident with working starters, or don’t even have a starter, using yeast is not only a totally acceptable way to leaven your pizza dough, it’s in fact the most popular way.

Should I use dry or fresh yeast for my dough, and is there a difference?

The yeast you use for <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/how-to-make-the-perfect-pizza-dough">your pizza dough</a> is really only a matter of preference and what you have on hand. Dry yeast is nothing more than dried, fresh yeast, but it can be stored longer and added directly to flour without being activated beforehand, making it more convenient than fresh yeast, which should be dissolved in a lukewarm liquid with a little sugar before being used to make a dough. For more on the different types of yeast and how to work with them, <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/whats-the-difference-between-fresh-active-and-instant-yeast">see here</a>.

What flour is the best for pizza dough? Can pizza dough be frozen? Is there a quick dough I can use for super spontaneous homemade pizza cravings?

The answer to all of these questions awaits you in <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/how-to-make-the-perfect-pizza-dough">our guide to making better pizza dough</a> at home.

Semolina is a flour made from durum wheat. It’s a bit more coarse in texture than your typical flour and the color is usually darker or more golden yellow. There are plenty of recipes for pizza dough that use some or even only semolina flour, as it will add more chew and toughness to the crust and offer a slightly different flavor than <a href="http://semrush.com/" rel="nofollow">other flours</a>. We don’t have a recipe for this kind of pizza dough, but there are plenty out there on the internet—<a href="https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/basic-pizza/" rel="nofollow">try Jamie Oliver’s</a> for instance!

What should I do when the dough is too wet or sticky?

If your pizza dough is really hard to handle and very wet or sticky, make sure both the work surface and the dough are heavily dusted with extra flour before kneading or gently stretching and folding it (as Lisa does in <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-easy-neapolitan-style-pizza-with-lisa">this recipe video</a>). This should help “organize” the gluten, and make the dough more smooth and elastic and easier to work with. If that just doesn’t seem to be working, don’t fret, oil up a rimmed baking sheet or dish and toss your wet, sticky dough into it. Add more oil, let it proof (stretching it a little to fill out the baking sheet or dish), and use oiled hands to “play the piano” in the dough; boom, you have <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/focaccia">focaccia</a>. <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/focaccia-with-onions">Top</a>, bake, and enjoy!

What should I do when the dough isn’t staying in shape when forming it?

There are a few reasons why your pizza dough might shrink back into itself as you try to shape it for your pizza: it could be that your dough is too cold (gluten tightens when cold) or your dough could have developed too much gluten. Luckily, the solution to both issues is the same: let your dough rest and come to room temperature. Gluten relaxes and becomes less stretchy and elastic the warmer it gets, making it easier to work with and shape.

How can I get a crust that's thin and crunchy?

Depending on how thin and how crunchy we’re talking, you can use our recipe for <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/homemade-pizza-dough">homemade pizza dough</a> as a base and simply skip the second rise in order to have a less airy crust. In theory, this would be possible with any pizza dough recipe. Not allowing for more air to be trapped in the dough will make the dough that much thinner. However, if you want to go super thin, like a cracker crust, you could do a quick oil crust (<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/shortcut-tarte-flambee">which we use for this shortcut tarte flambée recipe</a>). It doesn’t even include yeast, so this crust will bake up just about as thin as you can roll it out.

What cheese (or mix of cheeses) is the best for pizza? Which mozzarella should I use, so the pizza doesn’t get soggy?

If I know one thing after reading Ruby’s article on the <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/more-than-mozz-the-12-cheeses-we-love-to-put-on-pizza">12 best pizza cheeses</a>, it’s that there is not really one right answer to the question of which cheese is best on pizza. You have the classic of course, mozzarella di bufala, but you also have low-moisture mozzarella (perhaps the very best answer to the second question posed here), and <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/5-ingredient-cacio-e-pepe-pizza">even Pecorino</a>. So read up, get to know your pizza cheeses, and I’m sure you will make the right choice to suit your own tastes for delicious, super cheesy (not soggy!) homemade pizza.

What’s the best vegan cheese for pizza?

This is a tough question, and one I might just as likely not answer, rather directing you (if you’re vegan) to just leave cheese out of the equation when it comes to pizza (there are lots of great pizzas that don’t include cheese!) However, <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/are-cashews-the-new-cheese">there are options</a> if you want to make a vegan pizza with some element of creamy, cheesiness. Try topping your baked pizza with <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/are-cashews-the-new-cheese">cashew Parmesan or cashew mozzarella</a>, for instance.

Many pizza recipes swear by a one ingredient sauce: canned crushed tomatoes, be they San Marzano or otherwise. Lisa adds some <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-easy-neapolitan-style-pizza-with-lisa">garlic, salt, and olive oil</a>;<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-pizza-babka-supreme-with-devan"> I rip in</a> some fresh basil; Christian <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/cheesy-pizza-rolls">doctors his up</a> with thyme, rosemary, onions, garlic, tomato paste, white balsamic vinegar, and a pinch of sugar. In addition to tomato sauces, which can be as simple or as complicated as you wish, but <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/easy-white-pizza">white pizzas</a> (pizzas without tomato sauce) are also super delicious and worth bringing up here (like Ruby’s <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/5-ingredient-cacio-e-pepe-pizza">5-ingredient cacio e pepe pizza</a>). For some white (and other tomato sauce-less) pizza ideas, <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/6-unusual-pizza-toppings-you-ll-love-to-love-or-hate">take a look here</a> for Andreas’ recommendations.

Your pizza styles question (that’s right, there was only one!)

Stuffed crust pizza was definitely one of my personal favorites growing up; it always seemed so fun and novel, plus, who doesn’t love the hidden surprise of even more cheese with your pizza? <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/your-quick-guide-to-the-most-popular-pizza-styles">Here’s how to make it at home</a>.

What’s the best way to reheat leftover pizza?

There are people in this world who do not believe in reheating leftover pizza. They would prefer you eat it all at once (no leftovers, no reheating) or you eat it cold, straight from the fridge (something I also enjoy from time to time). However, this answer is obviously not for those staunch pizza reheating non-believers. If you want to reheat pizza, <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/how-to-reheat-leftover-pizza-3-ways">here are three methods for doing just that</a>. None include microwaving it, and for this, I’m not sorry.

When you have leftover pizza, storing it properly is important. You don’t want to store it in the box in the fridge; that will make the crust dry and hard. So what’s the best way to do it? Well, there are some equally reliable ways: let your pizza cool completely then a) stack the slices into a resealable plastic bag and store it in the fridge; b) stack the slices on a plate (layer with parchment or paper towels if desired) and wrap tightly with plastic wrap before storing in the fridge. With either method, your pizza will keep for up to four days.

Good news, the answer here (depending on where you live) is <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/yes-you-can-recycle-your-pizza-boxes" rel="nofollow">likely yes</a>! It pays to double check your local sources, but <a href="https://www.afandpa.org/media/news/2020/07/13/af-pa-and-industry-partners-aim-to-set-the-record-straight-pizza-boxes-are-recyclable-grease-and-cheese-not-an-issue" rel="nofollow">according to the American Forest and Paper Association</a>, corrugated pizza boxes (even with residual cheese and grease) are successfully recycled every day.

Your one-stop-shop for making better pizza at home

All the Answers to Your Burning Pizza Questions

This article is part of “The Pizza Issue”, our month-long dive into everyone’s* favorite food. We’re sharing playful new recipes, talking pizza tools and toppings, and answering all your burning (but hopefully not burnt) pizza questions. Join our pizza party by checking out <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/were-dedicating-an-entire-month-to-everyones-favorite-food-pizza">this link</a> for an overview of all our latest stories and recipes—and don’t forget to follow us on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kitchenstories_official/" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a> for behind the scenes, extra pizza content, and so much more!

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CKm1hBhh0Tq/" rel="nofollow">Pizza babka</a>—a braided, yeasted bread with pizza-flavored fillings—first caught my eye while scrolling my <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/whats-the-deal-with-garden-focaccia">food</a>-<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/dalgona-coffee-is-the-entertainment-we-need-right-now">trend</a>-<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/i-ve-always-known-that-chili-crisp-was-pantry-magic">loaded</a> Instagram feed. I was instantly curious, as my memory of our <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/chocolate-babka">chocolate babka recipe</a> is vivid: It was the winter of 2019 (what I now know marked the last of the “good old times”) and our chef Hanna kept delivering us (all at our desks in our real, far from home, office) fluffy pieces of delicious and beautiful chocolate babka. In one week, we had almost four of them, so rest assured it’s <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/chocolate-babka">a tried and tested recipe</a>. To be honest, I had my doubts about whether pizza babka was, or is, really a trend, as it has yet to reach the viral status epitomized by <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/internet-famous-frothy-dalgona-coffee-757a">Dalgona coffee</a> in 2020. In any case, we decided to put our bets on it and play our part in helping this carb-y creation conquer your social media feeds.

Let’s break it down. We know what pizza is; we’ve dedicated <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/were-dedicating-an-entire-month-to-everyones-favorite-food-pizza">an entire month</a> to our shared love of it. Babka is a yeasted, braided bread (alternatively called Krantz cake) that originated from Jewish communities in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2009/04/babka-trans-atlantic-jewish-delight/716/" rel="nofollow">Eastern Europe</a>, most notably Poland and Ukraine. They can be filled with cinnamon, apples, or sweet cheeses, but one of the most popular variations is the <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/chocolate-babka">chocolate babka</a>; it was made iconic by the 90’s sitcom Seinfeld and it’s still having a moment. Nonetheless, savory babkas have also been tried, tested, and loved. Pizza babka has popped up on various food blogs over the past years in different variations (like <a href="https://coleycooks.com/scaccia/" rel="nofollow">this one</a> calling <a href="https://www.tastecooking.com/lasagna-meets-calzone-halfway/" rel="nofollow">Sicilian scaccia</a> a pizza babka), but it was at the beginning of this year, when chef and food writer Bill Clark brought it to the forefront through his newsletter <a href="https://apieceofcake.substack.com/" rel="nofollow">A Piece of Cake</a>.

When pizza and babka meet, the appeal is obvious: who wouldn’t love a combination of two magnificent comforting, bready foods. It takes our obsession with layered, swirled carbs to the extreme. It’s crusty on the outside, and soft inside with cheesy, fluffy, tomato-y swirls. Our <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-pizza-babka-supreme-with-devan">pizza babka recipe</a> is easy to make, although it takes some time (like most good breads). It’s a playful weekend project that can add a few new layers (get it?) to your ordinary pizza party; let people pull apart the babka by hand, dip, and nibble.

Check out the recipe video below and follow Devan’s step-by-step instructions!

Make pizza babka supreme with Devan

What makes Devan’s pizza babka supreme special

When debating whether to call it a “pizza babka” or a “babka pizza”, a real “chicken or the egg” problem, we decided that since she used a basic pizza dough (just flour, water, yeast, salt, and olive oil), the recipe is essentially more pizza-like, therefore pizza should come before babka. Adding “supreme” at the end, is not a boast (or is it?), but a popular pizza topping combo from the US—one that Devan used to hate growing up, but now holds in very high regard when it comes to the endless array of topping combinations. A supreme pizza includes red and green bell peppers, onions, olives, pepperoni, and Italian sausage, but Devan opted to keep her pizza babka supreme vegetarian, losing the pepperoni and sausage. This supreme combo gives the traditionally sweet babka a super savory turnover.

The simple pizza dough for this recipe requires no special equipment (just your hands!), minimal kneading, and three stages of rising and resting: when the dough is formed, it should proof in the fridge overnight (or at room temperature for at least 4 hours). This ensures enough time for air to form in the dough and for the dough to develop flavor. Then when the dough is filled and rolled, Devan suggests freezing it briefly to make the braiding easier. The final proof is when the dough is braided and in it’s baking skillet; it should be left at room temperature for at least 2 hours or until the dough noticeably rises and reaches about two-thirds of the way up the pan’s edge. The first and last rises are the key to getting a fluffy texture in the dough and finished babka. For more pizza dough tips, <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/how-to-make-the-perfect-pizza-dough">read our article on making great homemade pizza dough</a>.

To get that appealing golden, crispy crust, olive oil is key. Brush some olive oil all over the babka before it goes into the oven. Then, when it’s hot out of the oven, brush over some more olive oil to give the dough a glossy sheen.

Good tools make life easier, especially when it comes to baking. One thing I was convinced of after shooting this recipe was that I needed a <a href="https://amzn.to/2RveagX" rel="nofollow">bench scraper</a> (also known as a dough or pastry scraper). It’s an all-rounder. You can transfer ingredients painlessly from cutting board to pan; clean any messes or dried up dough from a work surface; divide, trim, and scrape out sticky dough from a bowl; spread any paste evenly.

There’s more than one way to pizza babka

Although I personally love <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-pizza-babka-supreme-with-devan">our pizz-y babka</a>, there are lots of options you can take when making your own version. You can swap to a more traditional babka dough (just omit the sugar), for a soft, super fluffy, and buttery brioche-like dough. In addition to dough swaps, you could also play with the shape, no matter which dough you use. You could opt for the arguably more Instagramable, traditional babka loaf shape—to adapt Devan’s recipe, don’t divide the dough in step three, instead roll out the entire batch of dough, fill it, and follow the shaping and proofing method from our <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/chocolate-babka">chocolate babka recipe</a>. Depending on what you prefer (and what pans you have), you can braid the dough into <a href="https://betweencarpools.com/8-ways-to-roll-your-babka-for-a-different-look/" rel="nofollow">other forms</a>, too. You could even cut the log smaller and make <a href="https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/baking-and-desserts/chocolate-and-salted-pistachio-babka-buns/" rel="nofollow">pizza babka buns</a>.

For filling your savory babka, you can incorporate most of your favorite pizza toppings. Try toppings like caramelized onions, blanched (and squeezed) spinach, small crumbles of cooked potatoes, browned Italian sausage, and <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/more-than-mozz-the-12-cheeses-we-love-to-put-on-pizza">different types of cheese</a>. Pesto is also a great addition, like this recipe we tested for the article from <a href="https://www.thekitchn.com/savory-babka-265856" rel="nofollow">The Kitchn</a>. However, it’s important to be really careful with ingredients that have a lot of water in them. This can soak into the dough while it’s in its final stage of rising and make it hard for the dough to cook through or result in an unpleasant, soggy texture. So make sure any vegetables or raw meats are cooked well and drained, and be light with the amount of toppings, making sure not to overfill it, because all amazing things must have limits.

If you’ve never tried making your own pizza or babka at home, but are now craving them in this combination, this is your call to action and adventure! Have fun and let us know how it turns out!

If you like Devan’s pizza babka recipe, put these on your list! —<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/chocolate-babka">Chocolate babka</a> —<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/braided-bread-with-herbs">Braided bread with herbs</a> —<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/german-sweet-braided-nut-bread">German sweet braided nut bread</a> —<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/savory-babka-with-goat-cheese-and-leek">Savory babka with goat cheese and leek</a> —<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/braided-italian-bread">Braided Italian bread</a>

When pizza meets babka, the result is supreme

Why (and How) to Make Pizza Babka Right Now

This article is part of “The Pizza Issue”, our month-long dive into everyone’s* favorite food. We’re sharing playful new recipes, talking pizza tools and toppings, and answering all your burning (but hopefully not burnt) pizza questions. Join our pizza party by checking out <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/were-dedicating-an-entire-month-to-everyones-favorite-food-pizza">this link</a> for an overview of all our latest stories and recipes—and don’t forget to follow us on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kitchenstories_official/" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a> for behind the scenes, extra pizza content, and so much more!

Pizza: It’s synonymous with cheese, whether your mind strays to oozy swimming pools of mozzarella on your Neapolitan pizza or the overblown cheese pulls from the Pizza Hut ads of yore. But what is the best kind of cheese to use on homemade pizzas—and what order should you pile it on for optimally stringy results?

The most obvious choice is mozzarella—specifically buffalo mozzarella, born in Naples, Campania, the cradle of modern pizza. But there are of course, more choices to be made.

All the 12 cheeses listed below are equally delicious (if you want more: <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/the-complete-guide-to-italian-cheeses-and-the-13-kinds-to-know">see this definitive guide to Italian cheeses)</a> on dough, but all do not melteth equally—especially in a home oven. Magnificently melty or not, they are still worthy of gracing your pizza palette if you know exactly how to use them—on which pizza styles, in what order, and which toppings they marry best with.

Why should you trust a word I’m saying? I had the pleasure and the burden of being plied with an array of cheesy pizzas (thanks to our chef Hanna) and tasted and graded each iteration in too-few digestive hours. In hindsight, it was possibly the cheesiest joke I’ve ever made, and trust me, I’ve said a few in my time. I thought I’d been put off cheese for good, but the following week, when we pulled out a perfectly golden<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/5-ingredient-cacio-e-pepe-pizza"> cacio e pepe pizza</a> out of the oven on set, I was ready to dive right in. I guess I had the last laugh after all.

Here are the best cheeses to put on homemade pizzas, each tested for their melting moments and flavor factor. Plus find out exactly when to put them on your pizza.

Easy cheesy: Before we begin, save this infographic to remember the cheeses that melt best on pizza

A creamy bauble of delight, the creme de la creme of pizza cheeses, in my (or dare I say our?) Neapolitan-focused minds, has to be rich mozzarella di bufala, known to purists world-over as “true” <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/peach-caprese-salad-with-basil-oil">mozzarella</a>. As the name suggests—it’s made of the creamiest buffalo milk from Campania.

Does buffalo mozzarella melt well? Yes. This is the cheese you will recognize as little pools of stretchy creamy delight on your pizza.

How to use buffalo mozzarella on pizza: On the note of pooling, as our conventional home ovens don’t get as ripping hot as a stone pizza oven, this cheese can also leave liquid patches on your pizza making some areas likely to go a little soggy. To remedy this, tear up your mozzarella by hand (in my opinion, the most satisfying way to work with it) and sit the pieces in a sieve prior to cooking to dry them out a little. At this point, I often sprinkle them with a little salt, too. Buffalo mozzarella works best on Neapolitan style-pizzas, paired with tomato sauce and basil for your classic Margherita (<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-easy-neapolitan-style-pizza-with-lisa">or upgraded with lemon and Parmesan alla Lisa</a>, my favorite new trick). You can also create a comfy little bed of low moisture mozzarella (more on that below) for the fresh mozzarella to sit on.

Ever picked up a pizza menu and needed a quick translation of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmKJKYmzO90" rel="nofollow">Fior di Latte</a>? Don’t let the name confuse you, the poetically named cheese (it would translate into something like “Flower of Milk”) refers essentially to a mozzarella cheese made with regular cow’s milk, rather than buffalo milk. It’ll be a bit less tender and creamy—but unless you’re side by side testing, this will entirely escape your notice.

Does Fior di Latte melt well? Yes, like it was born to, it’s mozzarella, after all.  How to use fior di latte on pizza: Exactly as you’d use buffalo mozzarella, see above.

Did you know you can make mozzarella at home? Watch Hanna make it from scratch in the recipe below!

Homemade mozzarella cheese

<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/grandma-style-pizza">Low-moisture mozzarella</a> is a pretty self-explanatory choice for your pizza. I’ll always remember it picking up hefty vacuum-packed blocks of it at the supermarket back home in Melbourne (shout out to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-24/piedimontes-supermarket-heritage-history-hipsters/9691406?nw=0" rel="nofollow">Piedemonte’s</a>) ready to be loaded onto pizzas or gobbled when no one was looking, but here in northern Europe it’s usually available only pre-shredded—which, for scattering over a pizza, is a great, ready-to-go choice.

Does low-moisture mozzarella melt well? Yes. This is one limber cheese that never forgets to stretch. As well as bringing stringy cheesiness, it bubbles and browns like a dream.

How to use low moisture mozzarella on pizza: Works excellently to yield crispy edges on a <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/grandma-style-pizza">grandma-style pizza</a> and is an excellent base cheese for any kind of cheesy pizza for unobtrusive creaminess, like with our new <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/5-ingredient-cacio-e-pepe-pizza">cacio e pepe pizza</a>. To avoid it browning *too* much before your base cooks and crisps, scatter either the cheese on first and blob the tomato sauce on top, or make sure there is some sort of other topping to shield it a little from the oven’s heat.

Some honorable mentions before we leave Camp Mozzarella: I have to shout-out smoky scamorza (think of it as a smoked mozzarella-style cheese), which is my go-to if I’m looking to cut large medallions of a low-moisture, but super creamy, smokier-than-a-Muji-log-fire-candle cheese onto my pizza—check out your local Italian deli or cheese shop. While you’re there, look out for another firm, but creamy number: Caciocavallo alla the Sicilian pizza-style Sfincione. And if you just love your fresh cheeses, try stretchy Provola (not to be confused with aged Provolone, which as it happens, is also great on a pizza).

<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/endive-burrata-and-beet-salad-with-candied-walnuts">Burrata</a> is a typically Apulian fresh cheese that can be described most directly, if inelegantly, as a little bag of cheese filled with cream. The outer is a ready-to-burst mozzarella skin, the inside a mixture of mozzarella and cream—stracciatella.

Does burrata melt well? As it’s already liquid inside, there’s really no need to melt burrata—it just needs a little warming.

How to use burrata on pizza: Lay a burrata on your pizza as soon as it comes out of the oven. You can break it apart to distribute it, but we’re fans of just cutting it open in the middle and letting it do its thing, spreading creamy cheese lava where it wills.

For more spreadable cheeses to dollop on your pizza post oven try stracciatella itself or squacquerone, a cheese from Emilia Romagna that is as much fun to eat as it is to say.

You might think of it more as the cheese that graces your pastas, risottos and salads, but Parmesan’s ubiquity extends to pizza.

Does Parmesan melt well? As a hard cheese, it crisps up more than melts, but that in no way means it’s not also born to (pizza) party—Parmesan is here, as always, for a savory, salty boost, a cheesy MSG.

How to use Parmesan on pizza: As it’s not known for its melting qualities, we like it best grated onto the pizza as soon as it comes out of Dante’s inferno (in this case, your home oven).<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/make-easy-neapolitan-style-pizza-with-lisa">Lisa goes for a light microplaned shower</a>, while Hanna on our shoot, kept it classic, using a vegetable pizza to shave Parmesan onto a fiery bed of arugula.

This cheese is close to my heart, as it’s the star of my recipe for <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/5-ingredient-cacio-e-pepe-pizza">cacio e pepe pizza</a>. Pecorino is available as a hard, aged cheese (stagionato) or younger firm-but-flexi, nutty and creamy variant (semi-stagionato). For pizza opt for the latter!

5-ingredient cacio e pepe pizza

How Pecorino melts: A young Pecorino (thinking about patenting this name for whenever I feel the urge to enter a cheesy rap arena) melts excellently in the oven. If you happen to only get your handles on a harder Pecorino, grate it on finely for added flavor, as we do with Parmesan.

How to use Pecorino on pizza: Young pecorino can be grated or crumbled on a pie alone, or in combination with a milder cheese before it goes into the oven and you’ll have some beautiful, brown-flecked bubbling to look forward to. In the cacio e pepe recipe, we whisk up the grated cheese with a little hot water to create a cheesy sauce that can be poured onto grated mozzarella—a method that you use alongside other topping combinations.

This is one of my personal favourite cheeses, a washed rind, creamy cheese from Lombardy that is nutty and slightly sweaty—and I mean this entirely positively, in the sense of Parmesan’s signature whiff. If you like your creamy cheese to do something other to your palate than shout CREAM at you with the force of a mattress wholesaler ad (remember those?), this is for you. 

Does Taleggio melt well? With a room temperature consistency that is firm but jiggly on a mild day and threatening liquidity on a hot day, it’s a cheese that you can just see wants to melt (<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/white-asparagus-risotto-with-taleggio-and-lemony-pangrattato">as in this asparagus and taleggio risotto!</a>).

How to use Taleggio on pizza: I personally don’t think <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/mini-cheese-calzones">Taleggio</a> gets anywhere near enough credit for the cheese pulls it conducts. Break Taleggio up on your pizza, post sauce or as a supplementary cheese. As it’s a very moist cheese it can sit atop any other toppings with pride of place and will happily spread itself around once in the oven.

A veiny, marbled, blue cheese, <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/gorgonzola-pear-and-walnut-tarte-flambee">Gorgonzola</a> hails from its namesake town in Lombardy. Is the cheese that adds dimension to a Quattro Formaggi pizza. Essentially, it’s a cheese with personality—and the blue adverse (I am a woefully embarrassed member of this club) need note that its punch does mellow in the oven.

Does Gorgonzola melt well? Extremely well—it’ll spread so far that the only telltale sign are the errant clouds of blue left behind to mark the spot.

How to use Gorgonzola on pizza: For a cheesy pizza, pair Gorgonzola with a milder cheese like low moisture mozzarella (sitting, as we’ve now learned, the Gorgonzola atop) or even atop a base of crème fraîche. You can go one further and scatter arugula, slices pear, toasted walnuts, and artful clumps of Gorgonzola once your pizza is out of the oven.

A dense, creamy fresh cheese that simultaneously manages to seem light, ricotta makes a great grand finale to a pizza.

Does ricotta melt well?  No, not really. Like most other fresh cheeses, you should dollop ricotta onto pizzas as soon as they come out of the oven.

How to use ricotta on pizza: <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/carrot-ricotta-gnocchi-with-mint-pesto-and-hot-honey">Ricotta</a> needs only to be spooned on and it will collapse gratefully into your toppings. It works excellently on vegetarian pizzas (ricotta is, usefully, also a vegetarian cheese) in combination with roasted vegetables. Naturally, it pairs well with honey and thyme, as with most cheeses, come to think of it—but my favorite pizza of late is a red-sauced number, with mozzarella (low-moisture) and spicy spianata, dressed with dollops of ricotta, a drizzle of honey and an extra sprinkling of red chili once it’s out of the oven.

<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/5-ingredient-grilled-cheese-and-tomato-soup-en">Cheddar</a> and Monterrey Jack are popular pizza cheeses in the US, and the former is often found in Northern European premixed ‘pizza cheese.’ I was skeptical of this less-traditional choice, despite being a fan of cheddar everywhere else, so how did it fare when we tested it?

Does cheddar melt well? As you’ll know if you’ve ever called on cheddar for a <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/how-to-make-a-perfectly-golden-grilled-cheese-sandwich">grilled cheese</a> or a <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/smash-burgers">burger,</a> cheddar melts very, but often with an accompanying oily slick. Although it didn’t look too appealing on the cooked pizza, it certainly was tasty to bite into.

How to use cheddar on pizza: Look, it’s not really the cheese to choose for a Neapolitan-style pizza, use cheddar for cheesy pizza-inspired creations like pizza rolls or calzones, or combine a little with grated mozzarella in a cheesy, deep dish pizza for added flavor.

Gruyère is the flying flag of the Alpine cheeses and as such, is the prime choice if you’re going for a<a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/shortcut-tarte-flambee"> tarte-flambee</a> style of pizza—for more on this style <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/the-worlds-greatest-tarte-flambee-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect">see this essential article</a>.

Does Gruyère melt well? As we know from <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/classic-cheese-fondue-en">fondue</a> to <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/croque-monsieur">Croque Monsieur,</a> this Alpine cheese is a real melter, supplying threads of oozy wonder.

How to use Gruyère on pizza: Use it grated as your base cheese (you can also spread your base with a little crème fraîche first) and pair with ingredients like speck, chives, caramelized onions, and even apple to finish.

Dutch Gouda features in a lot of pre-made European shredded cheese mixtures. Though it’s popular feature on my cheese boards, it wouldn’t traditionally be my choice for pizza.

How does Gouda melt? Really...good! Gouda gives you a bubbly cheese layer full of bronzed spots and melting pots.

How to use Gouda on pizza: Like Cheddar, use Gouda for pizza-ish recipes like doughy pizza rolls, or for when you want a great melting cheese for a lactose laden pizza. Like Gruyère, the flavor of Gouda is better suited to the kind of toppings you would see on a tarte flambée.

Have a favorite pizza cheese to share? We’ll see you in the comments!

Which cheeses melt the best? We find out!

More Than Mozz: 12 Cheeses We Love to Put on Pizza

Pizza. It’s one of those foods that needs no introduction; we know and love it in various forms all over the globe. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that it’s <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/01/14/pizza-is-the-worlds-most-popular-takeaway-dish-report-finds/" rel="nofollow">the world’s most popular takeout food</a>, a fact even more visible and deeply entrenched over the past year, with many of us spending the better part of the pandemic holed up with deliveries of our favorite pies. While our shared love of pizza can and certainly does bring us together, our suspect topping choices, method of eating (folded, knife and fork, crust first?), and various other pizza-specific preferences can just as quickly tear us apart. Does corn belong on pizza? In my opinion, that’s a hard no. But who am I to tell you how to enjoy your slice?

In this month’s issue, we’ll offer playful pizz-y (a cute new adjective coined by our communications designer Amina) ways to exchange on your toppings of choice (including absolute no-go’s), pizza styles you need to get acquainted with, and so much more.

The Pizza Issue

From gluten-free cauliflower pizza to rising star pizza babka, a 5-ingredient pizza (you read that right!) to easy, cheesy pizza rolls, this month we’re focusing on “everyone’s” favorite food. We’ll talk styles (Neapolitan and beyond, plus pizza-like flatbreads including <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/5-ingredient-manakish-lebanese-flatbreads">Lebanese manakish</a> and <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/turkish-flatbread">Turkish lahmacun</a>), tools, and toppings (perhaps putting an end to the pineapple-on-pizza forever?), we’ll show you how to make mozzarella at home (heck yes!), give you three actually great ways to reheat leftover pizza, and even answer all your burning pizza questions—<a href="https://www.instagram.com/kitchenstories_official/" rel="nofollow">follow us on Instagram</a> for the call to submit yours.

We’re looking forward to caving in to all our pizza cravings this month, and if you are too, save this article and check back each week to see what’s new—we’ll be updating and adding links to our latest recipes and articles throughout the month. In the meantime, we want to get the conversation started on this topic the best way we know how, by asking a potentially divisive question: What’s the one and only kind of pizza you couldn’t live without? Let the arguments begin!

— <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/how-to-make-the-perfect-pizza-dough">How to Make Better Pizza Dough At Home</a> — <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/more-than-mozz-the-12-cheeses-we-love-to-put-on-pizza">More Than Mozz: 12 Cheeses We Love to Put on Pizza</a> — <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/6-unusual-pizza-toppings-you-ll-love-to-love-or-hate">6 Unusual Pizza Toppings You&#x27;ll Love to Love (or Hate)</a> — <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/your-quick-guide-to-the-most-popular-pizza-styles">Your Quick Guide to the Most Popular Pizza Styles</a> — <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/why-and-how-to-make-pizza-babka-right-now">Why (and How) to Make Pizza Babka Right Now</a> — <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/what-to-eat-and-drink-with-pizza">What to Eat and Drink with Pizza</a> — <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/all-the-answers-to-your-burning-pizza-questions">All the Answers to Your Burning Pizza Questions</a> — <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/11-handy-tools-you-ll-want-but-don-t-need-to-make-homemade-pizza">11 Handy Tools You&#x27;ll Want (But Don&#x27;t Need) To Make Homemade Pizza</a>

Neapolitan-style pizza with Lisa

Cheesy pizza rolls

Cheesy cauliflower pizza with shaved asparagus

How to reheat leftover pizza, 3 ways

Antipasto salad

Iceberg wedge salad with Italian dressing

Caesar salad focaccia

Lahmacun (Turkish pizza)

Including how to make it, what to eat it with, and all our favorite toppings

We’re Dedicating an Entire Month to *Everyone’s* Favorite Food: Pizza

This article is part of our monthly issue “#ThrowbackNovember,” in which we’ll explore various aspects of childhood memory through the lens of food. We’ll share fun recipes that riff on those memories and a slew of fantastic videos featuring our team in hopes that you’ll watch, share, and comment on with your own nostalgia-filled takes. Check out <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/id/e75eb6fe-0b51-4def-b558-570658ef6779?draft=1&amp;v=1604067616">this link</a> to find an overview of all our weekly topics, stories, recipes, and more.

A delicious <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/how-to-make-the-perfect-pizza-dough">‘pizza’</a> comes in many forms: from paper-thin <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/stories/theres-a-tarte-flambee-for-every-taste">tarte flambée</a> to the thick-crusted towers of deep dish pies, za’atar-flecked <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/5-ingredient-manakish-lebanese-flatbreads">manakish</a>, and of course, the namesake, gooey mozzarella-laden pizzas of Naples, the simple truth is that the world loves topping yeasted dough with cheese, oils, vegetables, meat, and herbs.

As a kid, there was nothing that excited me more than the promise of pizza. When I think about the pizzas sprinkled all through my childhood—at birthday parties, school lunches, after ballet classes, even a miniature, personal pizza from Pizza Hut was in reach whenever I behaved while my mom grocery shopped—I can’t say they were the best I’ve had, but there’s certainly something sweet and comfy in the nostalgia for pizzas of our childhood.

It’s no surprise then, that when we asked our international team here at Kitchen Stories about the foods we loved and reviled as kids, pizza reigned supreme. It seems, no matter where in the world you live, or whether the pizza comes in the form of perfectly cut squares thrown onto plastic cafeteria lunch trays or DIY à la Lunchables, pizza is something we all share fond memories of.

I’d still never say no to a piece of old-school, bastardized Australian pizza—Proust had his memory-soaked madeleines, and I have this.

Pizza as I knew it, as a small child in Australia, came exclusively from the local delivery shop down the road—like commercial Coca Cola, and white sandwich bread, I was not allowed Pizza Hut. The bases were thick and spongy and the toppings completely copious: the ham soft, like shredded Spam, and huge coverings of, say, onions or green peppers (what we call capsicums where I’m from), and cheese like molten lava that would all threaten a landslide on the journey to you. Alongside your traditional Margheritas and Capricciosas, the menu boasted creations like the “Aussie” pizza, complete with an <a href="https://www.kitchenstories.com/en/recipes/georgian-cheese-and-egg-bread">egg</a> and bacon on top to a heart-stopping “Meat Lovers” pizza; I’d later unceremoniously break my short-lived teenage vegetarianism on this number. Sure, “proper”’ Neapolitan-style pizza in a neighboring suburb was a cultural milestone for my precocious 16-year-old self, and yes, it’ll never be the crispy, rosemary and potato pizza al taglio that I gained my Italy weight on, but I’d still never say no to a piece of old-school, bastardized Australian pizza—Proust had his memory-soaked madeleines, and I have this.

I was introduced to Pizza Hut at the age of 12 or 13, when the chain opened a restaurant in the city I went to school in. Back then it was very popular: The decor was somehow fancier than a fast food diner and sometimes we had to wait an hour to get in. Two things I found particularly exciting were the thick Hawaiian pizza and the &quot;help yourself&quot; salad bowl—you could fill it to your heart’s content, but only once, so people would really dedicate themselves to packing in as much as they could and return with a tower of salad. Needless to say, after a few years, Pizza Hut canceled this beautiful buffet salad.

My favorite childhood pizza memory is of “roti pizza”. Fast food chains and processed cheese only arrived in India in the late 90s, so naturally, when I tried my first pizza at Pizza Hut, I was in love. Like almost every other kid, I was not a fan of food that was green or had sprouts. I&#x27;d ask my mom for pizza everyday and that’s when one of her friends suggested “roti pizza”. She’d crisp up a whole-wheat roti on a pan, top it with store-bought pizza sauce and sabzi (vegetables cooked with onion, tomatoes, and spices) of the day, and lots of cheese. This “pizza” was ready in five minutes and vanished from my plate within seconds. Living in Europe gives me access to all the delicious, authentic pizza I can eat, but do I secretly wish for one topped with palak paneer? Every single time.

We used to make giant sheet pan pizzas for birthday parties. Each kid was given their very own square piece, we&#x27;d decorate it with our favorite topping in any way we liked, then we’d write our names on parchment paper, attach it to a toothpick and stick it into our allotted slice so we could tell them apart after baking. I used to—and still do—only eat the middle portion of the pizza.

Feeling pizza-ish? Here are some recipe ideas

Prosciutto and radicchio flatbread

Breakfast pizza with mushrooms, spinach, and egg

Sausage, potato, and rosemary focaccia

Schiacciata di zucchine (Italian zucchini flatbread with rosemary)

Skillet pizza with onions and fennel

Reverse puff pastry veggie pizza

Make grandma-style pizza with Ruby

Skillet pepperoni pizza

How do you remember the pizzas from your childhood? Let us know in the comments or upload your very own pizza recipe to our app to share it with the community!

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