Chef shares topping hack to make supermarket pizza so much more ‘exciting’

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A chef, who was crowned Pizza Chef of the Year in 2022, has shared her top tips for cooking pizza with The Mirror, including an easy way to ‘pimp up’ supermarket ready-made pizzas

We’d all love to have the time to whip up our favourite dishes, like pizza, from scratch – kneading dough, making tasty sauces and experimenting with different flavours and toppings.

But too often life gets in the way and we find ourselves simply calling our local pizza place to order a takeaway or nipping to the shop to grab a ready-made one.

If you love restaurant-quality pizza but aren’t able to make it for yourself at home, then we’ve got some tips to help you out.

Nicola Jackson-Jones, the owner of Two Cents Pizza, has shared her expert advice with The Mirror after being named the Pizza Chef of the Year for 2022 at the British Pizza and Pasta Association Industry Awards.

The pro has made a career out of creating delicious homemade pizzas, but she has nothing against buying pre-made ones from the supermarket and instead has shared a way to ‘hack’ them.

“There’s no shame in a shop-bought pizza I think, just make it a little bit more exciting,” Nicola proclaims.

So how exactly can you do this?

“Throw some extra toppings on there,” she suggests. “Add a little rocket, some Parmesan and a little bit of balsamic glaze. You can make anything more exciting with these ingredients.”

And when you’re cooking your ready-made pizza in the oven, the expert says there are a few signs to look out for to ensure you’re cooking it to perfection.

“You want a nice colour on the bottom,” she explains. “I don’t want to see any pale pizza bottoms, so a nice golden colour is what you need and then you want your cheese bubbling on the top, but not so much that it’s burnt.”

Nicola also shared her top tip for reheating any leftover pizza and it turns out you shouldn’t stick it in the microwave. Instead, there’s a pan lid trick you should try.

“I always love to reheat pizza on the hob,” the chef explains. “Get your pan and heat it up, then get your pizza in there and put a lid on the pan to keep some of that heat in and leave it until your cheese is bubbling.”

She added that this method will give the pizza a nice “crisp bottom” instead of the dreaded “soggy bottom”.

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