You have done perfect pizza dough, gave it shape nice, and chose your cheese and dressing. Now it's time for the filling: You can throw anything that sounds delicious in there, right?
Not enough! The toppings you add – and how you add them – is actually a crucial step. The right moves can make your pizza even better, while the wrong ones can lead to a soggy or undercooked pie.
To guide you, we have Jonathan Frishtick, an instructor with us Baking school who regularly teaches pizza classes, sharing his best pizza topping tips.
Food photography and styling by Liz Neily
Biggest tip? Don't overcook your pizza!
If there's one lesson you take away from this guide, it's less is more: Don't overload your pizza with toppings. “If you overlap your fills too much and stack them on top of each other, that's going to be a problem,” says Jonathan. That's because too many toppings will weigh down your pizza and add too much moisture; this, in turn, prevents your crust from browning completely. As a result, you end up with a pizza that has a weak bottom crust instead of a crispy one. So be judicious with your toppings and err on the side of too little rather than too much. “If you really like a lot of stuff on your pizza, maybe just fold things up and make one Calzones,” suggests Jonathan.
More tips for adding pizza toppings
Freeze the cheese. “If you're shredding low-moisture mozzarella for your pizza, freeze it first so it doesn't go rubbery when you run it through the cheese grater,” recommends Jonathan. You want to partially freeze it (twenty minutes is about right), but don't freeze it hard, or it will become impossible to shred. (And when it comes to cheese, Jonathan recommends avoiding pre-shredded mozzarella if you can and shredding your own! Pre-shredded cheese doesn't taste as good and doesn't melt as well as the cheese you shred yourself.)
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
Roast your vegetables. Jonathan highly suggests roasting vegetables before putting them on the pizza, especially if they're high in water, like zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, and onions. Not only does this add another layer of flavor, but it also ensures that your vegetables are fully cooked, as often the pizza baking time is not long enough to actually cook most of the vegetables. Most importantly, pre-roasting vegetables allows you to rid them of excess moisture. Moisture is the enemy of fresh crust, and if you throw in raw vegetables, they'll just evaporate in there, releasing juice that will make your crust soft and moist. Save energy and time by roasting vegetables in your preheated oven; by the time they are done, your crust will be ready for the topping. Add olive oil and salt and pepper before baking; this is a good opportunity to use herbs or scented oil as oil infused with garlic.
Cook fatty meats in advance. Sauté any meats that may be high in fat, such as Italian salami, before adding to your pizza. You don't have to cook the meat all the way through, but you do want to render some of the fat so your pie isn't smothered in it, as excess fat can also weigh down your crust. There is no need to pre-cook cured meats such as peppers, ham or bacon.
Take advantage of the broiler. “If you put a bunch of toppings on your pizza and you're not browning the topping as much as you want, use your broiler,” recommends Jonathan. “But be careful, because the top of the pizza can burn quickly.”
Photography by Kristin Teig; food styling by Liz Neily
Use basil the right way. Jonathan likes to chiffonade his basil (in other words, cut it into ribbon-thin strips) and add it after the pizza comes out of the oven so it stays fresh, crisp, and bright green. If you want to add basil before your pie goes into the oven, cover the basil with cheese to prevent it from browning in the oven.
Sprinkle with a little extra flavor. Once your pizza is baked, Jonathan suggests upping the flavor by sprinkling it on Blend of Italian cheese and herbs OR Better Cheddar cheese powder. Exercise restraint – a little goes a long way! If you want some fresh greens in there, you can also make a salad-inspired pizza – dress up with fresh greens (arugula is especially nice) and pile on top of your pizza once it's baked.
Learn more essential pizza tips in our guide How to bake pizza or do a live online The perfect pizza class through our Baking School.
Cover photo and food styling by Liz Neily.
