What's the secret to a perfect pizza?

Rachel Richardson said:To be honest, their pizza always makes me a bit nervous—I find Italy much better suited for pasta and croissants slathered in Nutella (the authentic kind, obviously😁)—for breakfast 😍

What were the pizzas topped with? 🍿

Correction: the best one in Verona was ham and sir, the worst in Rome had four types of sir, and the second best in D.C. was a massive mixed one meant for three people.

Ashley Vaughn79 said:I was just wondering how many of you actually ended up eating a pizza inspired by this topic today.

I did. 😬
Just a standard, mixed one.

Me too, grabbed a slice from the local neighborhood pizzeria🙂

Ashley Vaughn79 said:I was just wondering how many of you actually ended up eating a pizza inspired by this topic today.

I did. 😬
Just a standard, mixed one.

😁
It's not like the idea didn't cross my mind like ten times today.
Tomorrow! 🙂

I’m thinking... San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, a few slices of prosciutto, and some arugula...

I’ve pretty much cut out standard vegetable oils entirely. I only use them as a cooking medium when I need massive quantities—like frying up some donuts or whatever—but I don't consider it an ingredient I want consuming in bulk. For pizza, though, I'm drowning it in olive oil. How can you even cook without it? Honestly, every chef out there is frying something in oil anyway.

Besides, I think anyone who loves themselves grabs a pizza at least once every couple of weeks.

Had my meal today. I wasn't feeling particularly inspired by this topic 😁

It was absolutely fantastic

peeled potatoes, sir, ham, bacon, spicy sausage, onions, peppers, and mushrooms

I don't really run into situations where food is just objectively amazing or totally garbage, so I guess I don't often find myself obsessing over the secrets behind what makes something good or bad.

I mean, I was just eating a quattro formaggio pizza the other day, and honestly, it didn't even register to me that there wasn't any meat on it. If something were actually subpar or just tasted off, I’d definitely notice. Maybe I just have a stronger preference for a thick crust with a nice, crispy edge 😁

Huh. Nothing compares to a grandma's homemade dough, made by hand. 👋

I’m all about simple pizzas. I once had one of the best slices of my life at a spot in Pula, but the last one I grabbed from a local joint in my neighborhood was garbage. First and last time. 🙂

A stuffed-crust Margarita, super crispy (and definitely not burnt). It’s just pure 🙂 What kind of secret is this?

The best pizza is the one you share with the person you love most in this world.
It’s not even about the food itself. It's about who's sitting across from you.
When you factor that in—I remember that day like it was fifteen minutes ago...
It was a damn good day.

The second best pizza I ever had was on a day that meant everything to me....
The pizza wasn't anything special, but I was watching someone make history in their sport... and it felt like such a massive weight off my shoulders. As far as the food goes, it was nothing out of the ordinary by my standards. But that day? It was great. It mattered.

And if neither of those two answers does it for you:

The classic move is half Margherita, half ham and cheese—no mushrooms.

If I have to pick a spot, there’s this one place I went to ages ago. Haven't been back, though. It's halfway across the country now.

Don't like pizza, or just suck at making a decent one? 🍿

I’m really missing some fresh basil. If I just buy one of those little potted plants from the grocery store, I’ll end up stripping it bare just to make a single batch of soup—it’s hardly a smart investment. 😁 I’m just waiting for the weather to warm up enough so I can get some more 😁 fresh produce at the local farmer's market. There is honestly nothing better than an authentic Margherita made with tomato sauce you’ve simmered yourself for hours. 😍

This is one of my "babies" from last summer—let's call her Giovanna 😁. She was built using an old-school oven in my former apartment with stone floors; nobody really has much of a knack for culinary experiments like this. 😁 What I hate most is that old-fashioned tradition found in certain regional cookbooks where they make the dough ten centimeters thick, bake the life out of it for half an hour, and then try to claim it's pizza when it’s clearly just a focaccia.



And of course, it all comes down to high-quality ingredients and good flour. I usually go with buffalo mozzarella and my own homegrown tomatoes. For mushrooms, I’ll use porcini—either fresh or dried. Honestly, those processed cheese and deli meat toppings you see on cheap, plastic-tasting pizzas? Absolutely not.

So, here is the deal:
- Shorter, more intense bake times (I used to have to wedge the door open during the self-cleaning cycle just to hit 300°C).
- Better ingredients.

Frozen diced tomatoes.
A bit of oil, sugar, salt, and tons of oregano. I live for extra oregano.

The pizza itself.
Cheese—this part is non-negotiable, a total must-have:



Half and half with whatever else looks good.

Boring, basic ham has no business being in the 21st century.

Forget the standard deli ham or canned stuff.
I go with olive mortadella. Yap, you heard me right. Olive mortadella.

Then, top it all off with some spicy pepperoni.
Once it's baked, hit it with parmesan.

PS. You don't need mushrooms. They make the pizza so soggy it looks like you cooked it in a washing machine instead of an oven. Mushrooms are out. They just ruin the flavor.

🙂

.

You can definitely whip up a killer pizza in your own oven at home—honestly, it'll probably beat 90% of the local pizza joints. Mine usually turns out a bit thicker and richer, but since I stick to high-quality ingredients, a single slice is enough to keep me full for the rest of the night. I like to add the sir right toward the end of the bake to make it even better.