Best ingredients to make pizza at home

In our family we love pizza. We do treat ourselves to a takeaway from time to time but we also like to make our own which is a great way of using up left over veggies or cooked meat. But it is important to get the best ingredients to make pizza at home. 

I haven’t got to the stage of making my own base or passata but maybe in the future. In the meantime, we’ve tried out lots of different pizza ingredients and these are my top picks for pizza essentials. Apologies in advance for my cheesy headings (and there’s another unintended pun!).

Best ingredients to make pizza at home

It’s all about the base…

Getting the right base is so important. Too soggy or too crispy is not good! We’ve been through lots of brands and makes, but our all time favourite is Napolina large pizza bases. You get two in a box, they cook brilliantly and taste great.

Perfect Passata

My top pick for passata is from the Pizza Express at home range. This Passata is delicious. It’s really thick and tasty, with a hint of basil and seasoning in a rich tomato sauce. One tin is enough for three pizzas. While it’s a bit more expensive than a standard passata, it is definitely worth it.

Mozzarella Musings

I’ve tried out lots of different mozzarellas, including the pre-grated ones but I don’t like that pre-grated cheese uses potato starch to stop it sticking together. So my recommendation would be a low-fat mozzarella ball sliced into nice round pieces. I’ve used Waitrose Essentials, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Galbani, all of which do the job well.

Tomato-tastic

A few fresh or dried tomatoes never go amiss on a tasty pizza. You’ll see in my previous post that I’m a big fan of Unearthed and their smoked semi-dried tomatoes are fantastic on pizza. They’re not oily like some sundried tomatoes can be, and the smokeyness makes for a great addition to any pizza.

A sprinkle of oregano

Any oregano from a supermarket or a herb set will do the job, just give it a light dusting once you’ve chosen all of your other lovely toppings.

So there you go – my recommendations for the best ingredients to make pizza at home. Are you as hungry as I am now? :o)