How to make perfect pizza at home

Pizza texture is all about gluten – in the flour and in the mixing. This recipe uses fifty percent whole wheat flour – an addition that would normally mean a dense, gummy texture, as pieces of bran in whole wheat flour slice through gluten strands, causing the air pockets to collapse. But by adding a little dried, powdered vital wheat gluten, the overall gluten content is boosted and the texture is radically improved. The best place to get vital wheat gluten is online, and it can be used in all wholegrain breads. You can make this recipe with white flour only – it will still be a taste sensation, just a little less nutty (and a little less healthier); in this case, omit the extra gluten.

Either way, you want to stretch the dough as thin as you possibly can, without letting it break. This way it will bake quicker in the relative coolness of your home oven and emerge crisp and crunchy, rather than dry and tough. Be patient with your dough – if you’re gentle and try to really feel the limits of its stretch, you will have a beautifully thin pizza with a bubbled, caramelised crust. If despite your best efforts your pizza runs thicker, make sure you leave it in the oven until it is very well browned and really cooked through. Otherwise it will be gummy and soft and you will be left wondering what all the fuss was about.

Unfortunately, you can only cook one pizza at a time in a home oven, because you’re trying to keep the temperature as high as possible and multiple pizza bases will cause the temperature to drop. The hoards will not be satisfied with the first, lone pizza, but by the third or fourth, looks of heady joy will be etched on their faces and your position as master pizza maker will be secure.

Three or four toppings is usually plenty, and remember, not all pizzas are improved with tomato sauce. Think about what else you’re putting on the pizza – is tomato really the best flavour match? Other options include a drizzle of cream, a thin layer of cooked potato or a generous covering of sliced onions in olive oil – almost anything can form a base topping.

All that being said, it’s important that you don’t overload the pizza. Making sure the base cooks through properly is paramount and watery toppings will make it soggy. If you want to use liquid-heavy vegetables such as mushrooms, either use them sparingly or sauté them first to reduce. The latter is the superior option, although it involves more prep work. When each vegetable is cooked individually before topping, you can season and flavour them better and use them more abundantly.

I almost always use mozzarella as one of the cheeses, to balance out stronger flavours. After cooking, I think the differences between cow and buffalo mozzarella are negligible – if you want to use solely buffalo mozzarella, I recommend you tear the cheese over after baking, so the delicate nuances can really be appreciated.

As far as other cheeses go, I don’t think you need to stick to the Italian varieties, lovely as they are. A strong cheddar can be good, or a few slices of Brie. It’s hard to imagine a cheese on earth that wouldn’t taste great on a pizza, as long as it complements the other toppings.

But I encourage you to follow your own palate, flavour is more important than authenticity and it’s better to use an ingredient made with care than be slavish to a theme or nationality.

But as acclaimed baking authority Peter Reinhart concluded after his international search for the perfect pizza, the trick to making truly exceptional pizza is to make it with love, with respect for the form and dedication to the art. It is a simple pleasure that takes a lifetime to truly master.

Click the recipe below to see my recipe for the perfect pizza.