Thirty minutes is a long time to wait, especially for pizza. The aroma of baking pizza fills the entire house, and family members frequently drift into the kitchen, following the scent and eyeing the oven with hungry eyes.
From Tray to Plate
Finally, the oven beeps, and I pull the pizza out of the oven. The cheese is melty and bubbly, and the crust is perfectly browned around the edges.
I slide the pizza onto a toughened glass surface so that I don’t scratch the tray when cutting it up. If I’m lucky – and floured the tray properly – the pizza slides off easily. If not, I might need to jiggle the pizza gently until the crust comes away from the tray.
Our pizza cutter is one of a kind, not quite commercial but the first cutter we’ve ever had that we’ve used more than once. It crunches through the thick, crispy crust easily enough, but it still takes several tries to slice right through.
I slide the first slice of pizza off the glass surface and onto one of the waiting, pre-warmed plates. It comes away in a web of stringy mozzarella, leaving behind a trail of mushrooms and pineapple chunks.
On the plate, the pizza settles, toppings oozing down around it in a puddle of melted cheese. I pick up my knife and fork and prepare to dive in. I have been looking forward to this all day, and by now, I am starving.
Nothing Like Homemade
Homemade pizza is not something you eat with your fingers. It is not a quick meal you gobble down when you are in a hurry. It is an experience, something you eat slowly, savouring each bite.
The amount of work needed to make your own pizza from scratch may seem prohibitive, but it is well worth the effort. But be warned: you may never want to eat shop pizza again.