Even not-very-pro home pizzas are pretty good: hot dough and melted cheese never add up to awful. But if you are committed to creating truly great pizzas at home, there are plenty of ways you can up your game.

I spent a day − and exchanged about 100 messages − with Mariano De Giacomi, the Naples-born executive chef of pizza specialists Gradi Group. De Giacomi is accredited by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (True Neapolitan Pizza Association) but it’s at least as relevant to hear his own perspective.

“I am crazy in love with pizza,” he says. “I am always thinking about it, I even have dreams about it. I wake up and quickly write down a new idea for a topping or a way to make a lighter dough.”

When I invited him over for a pizza testing blitz, he brought 20 pre-made dough balls, a huge bag of flour, armfuls of mozzarella, a basil plantation and a smile that lasted all afternoon.

THE FLOUR

I’m always leaning towards Australian products. Laucke’s Wallaby flour is a good basic option, and if you’re making just a few pizzas, Laucke’s Pizza and Focaccia Mix is quick and foolproof. I’ve also had excellent results with Italian Caputo flour. If you’re avoiding gluten, look for their coeliac-friendly flour made with rice, potato and buckwheat.

Mariano prefers other Italian flours such as Le 5 Stagioni or Barilla: look for the 00 grading, which means finely milled.

Keep an eye on the protein component too, which will be noted on the packet as a percentage or proportion per 100 grams. A protein content of 9-10 per cent means the dough will mature in about 8 to 16 hours. If you want to prove your dough more slowly (and therefore make it easier to digest and more flavourful), look for a higher protein flour (12 per cent+). Higher protein also means the dough will be more structured; that is, stand up prouder and stronger.

THE YEAST

Mariano uses fresh yeast “because it contains more living cells and that results in better rising”. I use fresh if I’ve got it (ask at your local deli), and dry when I don’t. There’s not much difference, in my estimation.

In general, if you’re slow-raising, you can get away with using less yeast, and the more flour you’re using, the less yeast you need per kilogram. With 1kg flour, Mariano adds 4-5g yeast (see recipe below).

Sourdough is a whole other conversation (religion), which we will save for another occasion.

THE DOUGH

There are as many ways to make dough as there are to make love, but Mariano’s simple, beautiful, one-step dough is an easy path to pizza success. The best time to make this dough is the day before you want to cook, but you can also make it in the morning and have pizza for dinner.

The definitive direct dough

INGREDIENTS

• 650g tap water
• 30g sea salt
• 1kg flour
• 4g fresh yeast

METHOD

1. Place the water in a bowl. Add all of the salt and a handful of flour to the water and stir it together with one hand. Add the yeast to the water and dissolve it. Continue to add flour, mixing with your hand to combine. When all the flour is added, start kneading more vigorously with both hands.
2. When the dough forms and starts to peel away from the edges of the bowl, turn it onto a floured table or bench and knead for about 5 minutes, until it feels supple.
3. Form into a ball and rest under a damp tea towel for 20 minutes. (If you use a higher protein flour, you have the option of leaving the dough like this for one day and then continuing.)
4. Place on a floured surface and gently fold the dough a few times to create a glossy surface. Form gently into a ball and let it rise for 2 hours, covered.
5. Gently form the dough into 5 balls, cutting it to separate and ensuring you don’t squash it too much. Place in a tub with a lid for 8 hours or so. (The lidded tub ensures the dough doesn’t dry out too much.) In winter, leave outside or in a garage overnight. Otherwise, the fridge is fine too.
6. Return to room temperature an hour before stretching, topping, cooking and enjoying.

Makes 5 pizza bases

THE STRETCH

This is definitely a technique that separates the experts (Mariano) from the hacks (me). Mariano’s dough comes out beautifully thin with gentle bubbles and a puffy perimeter. Mine is more like a squirming toddler that I’m trying to dress in a shirt and pants. Just do your best.

Scatter semolina on a table or bench. Gently press the dough ball with your fingertips into a disc. Keep the dough ball the same way up as it was when it was resting. With your right hand on the table, use your left hand to pull away one side of the disc and flap it over your right wrist. Flick the dough back and slightly spin the dough disc before repeating the pull, flap and flick.

If you’re Mariano, you’ll end up with a paragon pizza base. If you’re me, you’ll end up with a misshapen oval. They’ll both taste good in the end, though!

Mariano’s dough comes out beautifully. Mine is more like a squirming toddler that I’m trying to dress in a shirt and pants.

THE HOME OVEN

A pizza oven is a huge help in making a great pizza but domestic ovens can work too, especially if you use a pizza stone. Crank the oven up as high as it goes (fan on) and let the oven and stone preheat thoroughly.

Make domestic oven pizzas a little thicker because they take longer to cook; the extra thickness will keep them fluffy and moist rather than dry and biscuity.

Another great hack is to cook your pizza until it’s almost done, then add the cheese so that your golden base and melted top converge in gorgeous harmony.

THE PORTABLE PIZZA OVEN

If using a portable pizza oven (see road test), preheating it slowly seems to retain more heat between pizzas. Heat the stone to 400C then turn the flame down while cooking. Rotate the pizza to ensure an even cook.

Every time you remove a pizza, turn the heat back up to ensure the stone is hot for the next one.

THE TOMATOES

Use whole tinned tomatoes and crush them with your hands so you have juicy, rubbly texture. Mariano was appalled that I would sometimes use passata.

It hurts me to say this because I love to buy local but, in our taste testing, Italian Mutti San Marzano tomatoes were sweeter than Aussie Ardmona. If you want the sweetness and prefer Australian, add a pinch of sugar.

THE CHEESE

As with so much about pizzas, this is personal. Mariano likes the fresh mozzarella and burrata from La Casa Del Formaggio, which is made in South Australia. We both love fior di latte and I am also a fan of the bocconcini from That’s Amore.

True Italian pizzas are often quite wet on top but if you like your pizza drier, ensure you drain any brined cheeses before tearing and topping.

THE TOPPING

Mariano is delighted to share this dreamt-up topping idea. It’s an expression of modest luxury and in that sense emblematic of the glorious pizza project itself.

Make a simple pizza with just mozzarella on the base. When it’s cooked, add thinly sliced mortadella, then place a burrata in the middle and scatter the whole lot with pistachios. Slice the pizza, letting the burrata spill all over it.

THE TEST

Wondering if your crust is killer? Apply the test that Mariano Di Giacomi does and use scissors to snip the rim of your cooked pizza. Fold it open to check the structure: if you see bubbles and stretch and your nose is filled with the warm, sweet smells of well-risen dough, you may crown yourself a home pizzaiolo.

A final word. Pizza is personal. Pineapple is OK. There’s always another day for another dough. Just have fun and remember: anything with melted cheese is never going to be too terrible.