5 secrets for making the perfect homemade pizza

Although pizza is cheap and plentiful wherever you look, there's just something extra special about making it yourself at home where you have total control over how it's prepared. To help you out, here are five secrets for making the perfect homemade pizza.

Surprising as this may sound you should use a large flour tortilla for an exquisite thin-crust pizza experience.

• When heated, tortillas crisp up perfectly and hold up to toppings much better than a dough that you stretch thin, and which usually tear.

The best tool for making a perfect homemade pizza is a cast iron skillet, not an oven as you might think. Why?

• You can heat the bottom of your crust on the stove top and finish the top in the broiler, giving you that high-heat pizza oven sensation you get from a traditional pizza oven.

Believe it or not an inexpensive can of crushed tomatoes make the best pizza sauce. In fact, chances are the best pizza you've ever eaten had nothing but tomato in its sauce.

• Got fresh tomatoes? Blanch, peel and seed, then toss them into the blender for the ultimate fresh sauce.
• If you like herbs, add them before topping with cheese. Fresh basil is especially tasty.

If you're going to splurge on anything, let it be the cheese.

• Top your sauce with fresh mozzarella sliced thin. You'll never go back to shredded.

A perfect pizza doesn't need to be swamped with a lot of toppings.

• If you do want to dress it up, make sure meats are fully cooked before using them. Cured meats, such as pepperoni and ham, don't need to be pre-cooked.
• Sauté mushrooms, peppers and onions just enough to pull out some of the juices so you don't wind up with soggy slices.

Making the perfect homemade pizza should take only a few minutes, but the compliments you'll receive about it will last long after the last slice has disappeared. Here's what to do:

1. Put your tortilla or rolled-out bread dough in a cast iron skillet and heat over low heat.
2. Spoon on a layer of crushed tomatoes, herbs, and other toppings as desired. Complete with a layer of fresh mozzarella. Make sure everything is prepped beforehand, as more than a couple of minutes on the stove top and the crust may burn.
3. If you're using tortillas, move the pan straight into the broiler for about three to four minutes, until the cheese melts and starts to brown.
4. If using bread dough, stick it in the oven at 450°F (230 °C) for about 20 minutes, then finish under the broiler for one or two minutes.

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