Celebrity chef Aldo Zilli’s step-by-step guide to making the perfect pizza from scratch – The US Sun

YOUR favourite pizza place may be shut but you can still get a slice of the action.

With this simple step-by-step guide from celebrity chef Aldo Zilli you will be able to rustle up your favourite pizza from scratch.

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The Italian has cooked for everyone from Madonna to Sir Paul McCartney.

And he has a positive message for Sun readers. He says: “To keep yourself busy, learn what you always wanted to learn.

“Everybody will have thought, ‘Oh I wish I had time to do this or that’, but we never did. Now we do.”

Aldo has provided a simple guide to making the perfect home-made pizza with four delicious toppings.

YOU NEED...

For a pepperoni pizza:

• 150g strong bread flour
• ½ tsp instant yeast from a sachet or tub
• ½ tbsp of salt
• ½ tbsp of oil
• 50ml passata or tinned tomato
• Half a mozzarella ball, or any other grated cheese
• Chorizo sausage, sliced
• 100ml water

For a pesto margherita pizza:

• 150g strong bread flour
• ½ tsp instant yeast from sachet or tub
• ½ tbsp of salt
• ½ tbsp of oil
• 50ml passata or tinned tomato
• Half a mozzarella ball, or any other grated cheese
• Jar of pesto

For a rocket/parma ham pizza:

• 150g strong bread flour
• ½ tsp instant yeast from sachet or tub
• ½ tbsp of salt
• ½ tbsp of oil
• 50ml passata or tinned tomato
• Half a mozzarella ball, or any other grated cheese
• 3tbsp parmesan
• 4 slices Parma ham
• 100g rocket leaves

Spicy prawns:

• 150g strong bread flour
• ½ tsp instant yeast from sachet or tub
• ½ tbsp of salt
• ½ tbsp of oil
• 50ml passata or tinned tomato
• 3tbsp mascarpone; 3tbsp parmesan
• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 12 large prawns, peeled
• 2 rosemary sprigs, roughly chopped
• Pinch chilli flakes; handful pitted green olives, halved
• 100ml water

EASY 8-STEP GUIDE

1. Make the dough

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PUT the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl and create a little well in the middle then slowly add water bit by bit.

Start mixing it with your hands until you get to the end of the water and you form a dough.

Put a little bit of olive oil in another bowl, put the dough in and cover it with clingfilm.

2. Prove the dough

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PUT your dough somewhere warm for one hour. It needs to rise until it is double the size.

Once it is double the size take it out and put it on a board with flour. If you are making two pizzas at the same time, now make two balls.

Don’t cut the dough, just rip it in half with your hands and work it into two balls.

3. Firm the dough

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PUT your dough ball or balls in a container. Cover them with clingfilm and put them in the fridge for an hour to an hour and a half. This firms the dough.

4. Stretch the dough

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ONCE it has rested in the fridge, bring it out and put it on a board. Start stretching it with your hands.

If you can stretch it with your hand, then fine. Otherwise use a rolling pin. Make it flat and even all over. It will be about 25cm across with a rolling pin.

If you haven’t got a pizza tray, a baking tray with parchment paper underneath is fine.

5. Make tomato base

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IF you have tinned tomatoes you need to blitz them so there are no lumps.

You can also add a bit of garlic if you want, and season to taste. Add salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil.

And if you prefer, you can add some oregano too.

6. Spread tomato base

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WITH the back of a spoon spread the tomato sauce on to the pizza, starting from the centre and going outwards.

Don’t put it all the way to the edge of the pizza, leave around a 1cm gap, otherwise the tomato sauce can drip on to the tray and burn the edge of your pizza.

7. Add your toppings

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I HAVE picked four pizzas, see above, so choose which ones will go down best with your family.

Simply slice the meats and spread on your pizza base and just tear up the mozzarella and scatter it and the other ingredients on top.

Pizza works really well with different kinds of cheese, and you can use whatever you want.

MOST READ IN FABULOUS

8. Cook the pizza

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SELECT your oven’s highest temperature setting – I cooked my pizzas at 250C for eight minutes.

You don’t need a wood-burning pizza oven to make an amazing pizza. It still tastes great.

The Italian way is to cut it into quarters then fold it and eat it with your hands. Give one each to your partner and kids and there’s one for you. Enjoy!

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