Pizza - getting the right flavour?

[MKG]

[pizza=]superb pizza[/pizza]

Aaaaaahhhhhh! That's the last time I take advice from anyone in Japan!!!!! Look at it - a culinary masterpiece turned into a mere statement.

[mrsflibble]

best pizza I ever had is a toss up between a place in Nottingham that used to be just off the market square (no idea what the name was) which did the most amazing 4 seasons pizza, or a pizza express place at 10:30pm in london last year when me and James walked out on a really terrible gig by a band we'd loved befor seeing them live

[urbanwookie]

My personal experience is that the qualtity and quality of the olive oil used in the dough has more effect that almost any other ingredient.

I have also added yoghurt to the dough to make a Nan-type flatbread. Unfortunately I don't have a tandoor but a hot, dry pan or wok works just as well. (Just take the battery out of the smoke alarm first!)

[pumpy]

best pizza ever, was made by the wife of the vin-yard owner,where i was picking in 1984. If you're quick,there may be some left!!! (a place called Odalengo Piccalo- N.Italy)

[Lady Willow]

I add linseeds to my pizza base ... and a tablespoon of polenta for extra crunch.

I make a marino sauce for my base .... finely chopped onion and garlic sauteed, add a can of tomaotes, crushed and some dried basil and oregano (my Italian friend said the Italians would never dream of adding TWO herbs, but sod that .. I like 'em). Add a slodge of tomato puree, a little sugar and simmer this away for ages and then cool. You can freeze portions to use for future pizzas or as a base for pasta sauce.

I love mushoom and olives on pizza. And slivers of red pepper. And my favourite of all is caremalised onion and garlic (whole cloves) ... lush!!

[MrsD'ville mkII]

Very timely post as I've had pizza base concerns lately, as you do. Bread flour can make the bases very stiff, but the last batch of dough I made came out like pastry

I've heard that roasting tomatoes and garlic before putting them into the sauce works wonders, but that's a step too far for me. My sauce is a combination of passata, tom puree, squirt of ketchup (gives that sweetness), fresh chopped garlic or garlic puree, oregano and basil. I use ornery cheddar rather than mozarella As we have one vegetarian and one quasi-vegetarian I usually make four types. I think last time I did:

Ham and pineapple (the veggie also hates pineapple so that's an easy one for we corpse-munchers!)
Vegetarian sausage and mushroom
Goat's cheese, olive and pine nut
Margherita with Quorn ham

Fig and goat's cheese is absolutely fantastic, first had that in a restaurant in Guildford and whenever I see figs I buy them expressly to make this pizza. I once used leftover Chinese takeaway sweet and sour sauce on chicken pickings on a pizza and that was lovely, if about an unTuscan as you can get!