These crazy times attract comfort eating, and what better comfort food is there than pizza? Making your own pizza is really fun, a great way to choose exactly what goes on it and is makes you feel a bit more like you've earned it. Im sharing the recipe I have been using for ages. It's really simple and perfect for freezing and using again later in the month. This recipe makes 4 large pizzas - if you don't want that much, you can easily half it or freeze half to use later.
Ingredients:
- 1 KG of Strong Bread Flour
(I used wholemeal because thats all I could get from the shop - usually use white)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 x 7g dried yeast sachets
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 4 tbsp oil (I used olive)
- 650ml water
You will also need:
- Trays
(I used pizza trays - can usually easily get these at supermarkets etc)
- Rolling pin
- Your fav toppings
Start of with 650ml of lukewarm water and mix in your yeast, oil, sugar and salt. Give this a good stir to make sure its all evenly combined.
Weigh out your bread flour in a large bowl and add the wet mix into the flour.
Knead this until you have a smooth dough. I use my dough hook on my mixer, but this is not needed. Mix with a spoon to form a dough and knead for around 2 minutes or until you have a soft, smooth dough. You don't have to be too precious about this - get out your anger on the dough!
Your lovely dough now needs to prove for around an hour or until doubled in size in a warm area. Grease or flour your bowl, put in your dough and cover loosely with clingfilm or a damp towel. If it's sunny, pop it on a windowsill. if you have a cold house, an oven on a low heat or a microwave with the door open so the light is on works well. Once your dough has doubled in size, it's ready to either use straight away or wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge or freezer for later use.
This recipe makes 4 12" pizzas. Divide your dough into 4 and roll each section thin enough to fill your 12" tray (if using the pizza trays) and press around the edges to create crust. Go crazy with your toppings - starting with a base like tomato puree, pesto or passata.
I added, puree, dried herbs, salami, tomato, mozzarella and grated cheese. I also made a pesto base with chicken. Later on in the week, I used my left over dough to make a garlic pizza with garlic puree, butter and dried parsley.
Cook at your ovens max temp for around 12-15 minutes. Keep an eye on them, everyone's ovens cook differently and everyone prefers there pizzas at different levels of crispy.
Enjoy (and remember to tag me in your pictures!)