Give Your Homemade Pizza Dough Tons Of Flavor With An Oil Upgrade

Making pizza dough at home requires only a few ingredients that you probably already have in the pantry. And once you find the right recipe for the style of crust that you prefer, homemade pizza beats anything you can get from take out. Plus, it's a fun thing to do with friends or family. And if you want to give your favorite dough a flavorful makeover, we have the answer. Andrea Congiusta, executive chef at Pasta Beach, told Tasting Table that the easiest way to add extra pizzazz to your pizza is by making your dough with a flavored or infused oil. 

"I love pizza when it is simple, but if I want to give the classic dough a taste twist, I would suggest an aromatic oil", Congiusta says. This means you can use any flavored oil, from a fancy truffle oil to one simply infused with herbs, spices, or chiles. It will all depend on what kind of toppings you envision for your final product, of course. Here is where you can get creative by mixing and matching flavors for your dough and toppings. You can look for ready-made products or make your own flavored oils with anything you prefer.

"You can do this by infusing your herbs (I personally love rosemary and some garlic) for 20 minutes in a small pot on medium to low heat. Then you let it cool down and then you can use this infused oil for your dough," says Congiusta. Another cool hack for adding flavor to oils is using leftover scraps from cooking, such as citrus peels, green onion ends, ginger peel, and even cheese rinds. A Parmesan rind infused olive oil would be fantastic on pizza dough regardless of the toppings.

Congiusta's favorite flavored infusion of garlic and rosemary would be lovely for making a pizza topped with white sauce and roast chicken, for instance, or this triple cheese French onion flatbread. For a simple pizza, like a classic Margherita pizza, a garlic or basil infused oil would be great. If you're ready to get into the fall spirit, infuse your oil with fresh sage and make this roasted pumpkin and sausage ricotta pizza, or use a lemon flavored oil and make this amazing clam pizza. Flavored oils are easy to make, and they will give your next batch of pizza dough an extra element of taste that will guarantee no one leaves the crust uneaten.