What Is A Farmhouse Pizza? (Things You Need To Know)
Are you ready to make your own farmhouse pizza at home?
Farmhouse pizzas are rustic, comforting dishes that always hit the spot and are delicious any time of year. It has simple ingredients such as dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and a selection of fruits, vegetables or meat toppings like peppers, mushrooms or prosciutto.
This type of pizza is sure to be a winner for everyone!
And in this blog post, we cover all you need for making farmhouse pizza. Let’s get started.
What Is A Farmhouse Pizza?
Farmhouse pizza is a type of traditional, rustic pizza made with natural ingredients that are usually local to specific areas. It can also be referred to as a natural ingredients pizza, traditional pizza, artisan pizza or classic pizza.
The homemade versions of farmhouse pizza often include an olive oil-based dough that may include herbs such as oregano or thyme after it has cooked which adds extra flavour to the crust.
Additionally, the toppings for these types of pizzas contain fresh tomatoes and vegetable slices like capsicum, onion sweet corn and button mushrooms combined with smoked ham.
The Essential Ingredients For Farmhouse Pizza
Pizza Dough Recipe And Preparation
Making a great pizza starts with getting the dough right. To make farmhouse-style pizza dough, you’ll need all-purpose flour, salt, olive oil, baking powder, baking soda and water.
Before mixing in the dry ingredients like salt and baking powder with the flour, it is best to sift them together first to eliminate any lumps. After combining the wet ingredients (oil and water) mix into a thick paste before adding it to the dry mixture.
This will ensure an even distribution of moisture throughout the entire batch of flour.
Tomato Sauce Ingredients And Preparation
When making a farmhouse pizza, tomato sauce is an essential ingredient. The traditional recipe for this style of pizza typically uses fresh tomatoes cooked over low heat until thickened and glossy.
However, to bring out more flavour it’s common practice to add other elements like oregano, pepper powder, garlic cloves or onion to enrich the taste. Use olive oil for sautéing these extra ingredients beforehand for even better results.
Tomato puree or passata can also be used as a pizza sauce base instead of freshly cooked tomatoes – typically San Marzano tomatoes being the preferred choice – with additional complementary ingredients added as desired.
Cheese Options And Toppings
When it comes to farmhouse pizza, cheese options and toppings are key factors in creating the perfect slice. Mozzarella is probably the most common choice of cheese for this style of pizza as its thin slices ensure maximum flavour with minimal bulk.
For added flavour and creaminess, feta can be used instead. Other options include provolone and Parmesan which offer sharper flavors that will give pizzas an extra kick.
Toppings often include traditional ingredients such as tomato sauce, capsicum, mushrooms, onion and smoked ham but more imaginative choices like sweet corn or peppy paneer can easily dress up a simple slice too.
Meat And Vegetable Toppings Options
When it comes to Farmhouse Pizza, there are a multitude of topping choices. Popular meat toppings include Italian sausage, bacon, pepperoni, and ham with cheese. Vegetables like mushrooms, baby corn, capsicum (bell peppers), onion and tomato can be added for added crunch.
If you’re looking to go Indian-style then tandoori chicken and paneer make great toppings on Farmhouse pizza. To add cheesy goodness try mozzarella or parmesan which is usually melted over the top or stuffed in the crust.
Smoked ham provides an intense smoked flavour that pairs perfectly with other dominant flavours like tomato sauce.
How To Make Farmhouse Pizza At Home: A Step-by-step Guide
Combining Ingredients And Assembling The Pizza
To make the perfect pie, it’s important to create an even balance between your dough, tomato sauce, cheese and toppings.
Start by preparing the base for your farmhouse pizza which is the dough. Create a classic Italian-style multi-grain or gluten-free version with all-purpose flour, salt, olive oil, baking powder and yeast that has been dissolved in warm water.
Knead the ingredients together till you form a pliable ball of topped and let it rest uncovered until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
Next up, you should add evenly spread dollops of thick homemade tomato sauce across your dough. Then, top it off with generous amounts of mozzarella cheese. Or any other cheese blends you may desire such as cheddar & blue cheese or ricotta & parmesan.
If vegan is not your type, then you can try adding well-marinated chicken sautéed with onions or mushrooms coupled with pieces of grilled capsicum. That can help finish off that ideal combination of flavours we know as the ‘farmhouse’ style!
Finally, you should strategically place additional small dollops around these key elements for added flavour. Or you can just sprinkle fresh herbs on top such as oregano right away before popping it straight into a preheated oven set to 260°C.
Baking Tips And Tricks
Making a great farmhouse pizza is all about finding the right balance between crispiness and cheesiness. To get that crunchy-yet-fluffy crust, the oven needs to be hot enough when you first introduce your ready-prepped pizza into it.
Depending on your oven’s strength, this could range from 425F – 500F (220C – 260C). The key here is also to not overcrowd your tray or stone as this will keep heat away from the base of your pizza.
Once you’ve got a well-heated surface, it’s time to assemble those delicious toppings: starting with the sauce. If using store-bought tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes always opt for high-quality organic ingredients; then spread half of what you would usually use over a regular-sized portion in order to prevent an overly soggy pie during cooking if too much moisture has been added.
Afterwards, start adding layers of cheese followed by any type of meat or vegetables to give texture and flavour! Be aware that overloading can create unevenly cooked areas so try not to add more than 2–3 different types of topping per slice as they won’t have enough room while baking; plus if you want extra cheeses try sprinkling them afterwards instead :).
Serving Suggestions
When it comes to having the perfect farmhouse pizza experience, it is important to choose the right accompaniments such as beverages and side dishes. With this type of pizza, you want to choose drinks that don’t overpower its flavour but complement it instead.
A smooth lager or carbonated soda would work well in bringing out the savoury flavours on a farmhouse pizza. Alternatively, a glass of red wine goes nicely with farmhouse pizzas which contain smoky toppings like smoked ham or chipotle peppers.
When pairing these drinks with your homemade gourmet masterpiece opt for lighter beers such as pilsner styles over darker ales.
Conclusion
Making farmhouse pizza is a great way to bring family and friends together for special occasions. It’s easy to make using simple ingredients like flour, salt, olive oil, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.
Experiment with different toppings – prosciutto, ricotta cheese, roasted peppers or pistachios work especially well – before choosing your favourite combination that everyone can enjoy.
