Overview
This activity will take you through the steps of creating your own homemade pizza from simple ingredients around the house. This activity will take approximately three hours to complete, as the dough must sit in the refrigerator for at least two hours. The end product will be a large pizza (which can be enough to feed four people). Aside from the activity having a delicious finish, there are great concepts that can be connected to coding, through steps and the precision that must be obtained to achieve the best end result. Note: we strongly recommend and suggest that this activity is completed with adult supervision.
Background Information
Cooking requires a list of instructions in order to complete a task just like when a computer uses code to complete a task! Writing code for computers to interpret must be done with extreme precision because, like many kids at our Makerspaces learn, computers do not think the way we do so we must make sure that we make things as simple as possible. Cooking can be the same way, the more precise you make the steps or “code” the better your results will be.
Just like computers, we can sometimes misinterpret information leading to an error in the procedure. This could be compared to a bug in coding, one small mistake can create an error that wrecks our whole project. Whether you’re designing code or writing a recipe be sure to make it as simple and precise as possible. Just like when a chef shows their feelings and style through the food they create, so do programmers through the code they write.
There is so much creativity that lies within cooking although following the recipe will create the basic pizza, you can add your own delicious style! Create your own twist on the toppings and add whatever you love the most, it’s crazy to think that by adding what you love you’re creating a food biography on a pizza!
Materials
Ingredients
- Four cups of flour
- Two and a third tablespoons of instant yeast
- One tablespoon of salt
- One tablespoon of sugar
- Three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil
- Tomato sauce
- Mozzarella cheese
- Any toppings you would like!
- Water
Utensils
- Measuring cup
- Tablespoon
- Oven
- Cooking sheet
- Tin foil or parchment paper
- Oven mitts
Step By Step Instructions
- Gather all of the materials required to begin making your pizza.
- Place two and a third tablespoon of the instant yeast into a bowl, then add the one and a third cup of warm water. Mix them together and then let this sit covered for a few minutes.
- While you are waiting for the yeast and water to sit, mix the tablespoon of sugar, tablespoon of salt, four cups of flour, three tablespoons of olive oil into another bowl.
- Once the bowl that has been sitting for a few minutes is ready, place the second bowl with the flour in it, into the bowl with yeast and water and mix them together.
- Once this has been thoroughly mixed, grab the parchment paper or tinfoil.
- Spread a small amount of flour onto the parchment paper or tin foil so that the dough does not stick.
- Then pour the mixture onto the parchment paper or tinfoil, and begin to knead it.
- Once you are done kneading your dough, grab the first bowl and put oil all around the inside of it.
- Once the bowl is covered in oil place the kneaded dough into the bowl, and cover it.
- Place the bowl with the dough in the fridge for at least two hours.
- Bring the dough out of the fridge and remove it from the bowl.
- Place the dough back onto the tin foil or parchment paper.
- Toss and flatten the dough. Use your hands, or if you have a rolling pin that works great as well. Watch the video that goes along with this activity if you’re struggling to find a way to flatten the dough!
- Spread the olive oil onto the dough, but do not put it all around, leave the area that would be the crust.
- Spread the tomato sauce on top of the oil.
- Now add any toppings on top that you would like!
- Note: Parental guidance is strongly recommended and suggested for this step. Preheat the oven to 400℉. When the oven is heated, place the pan with the pizza on the middle rack. Cook the pizza for about 15 minutes (varying per oven) but keep a close eye on the pizza to make sure that it doesn’t burn! The crust is the best way to tell, the colour should be a golden brown!
- Using your oven mitts, take the pizza out and let it sit for five minutes to cool down, then enjoy!
Follow Up
We want to see the awesome things you’re creating! Take a photo or video and share your work with us by emailing media@pinnguaq.com or tagging @pinnguaq on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Don’t forget to include the hashtag #LearnWithPinnguaq! Please share pictures of your pizzas with us, so we can showcase our amazing chefs!
Resources
- Local Business South Pond Farms
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