Homemade Pizza

A easy recipe for great tasting home made Pizza

I used to live on a diet of Pizza and beer, so I know a good Pizza when I taste one. I have experimented a bit to finally come up with a recipe that I am happy with.

The recipe is very straightforward, although pizzas are only as good as the ingredients so use good quality flour, mozzarella and nice ripe tomatoes.

For convenience I used my Kitchenaid mixer to do the hard work. This recipe gives enough dough for 2 large pizzas, if only making one you can freeze the remaining dough for next time.

Ingredients and method

 

For the Pizza base:

550g strong white flour (plus extra to dust) – sieve into a bowl to make into a fine powder

7g yeast sachet

3tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

350ml warm water

1/4 tsp oregano

Note: I used my Kitchenaid food mixer to make the dough, If doing this by hand kneed the dough for approx. 12 minutes.

Method: Sieve the flour into the mixing bowl, then add the salt, oregano and yeast. Make a well in the middle of the bowl and then add the olive oil and warm water. Attach the dough hook and place in bowl then turn on at a low speed setting, I recommend setting 2. Leave the mixer to kneed the dough until it forms a smooth silky elastic dough, I recommend approx. 4 minutes.

Remove bowl from the mixer, cover with a damp tea towel and leave for 90 minutes until dough has doubled in size.  After this knock the air out of the dough, then use the food mixer to kneed the dough for a further 2 minutes.

Divide the dough in half, then dust the worksurface with some flour. Roll the dough half into a ball then place on the surface and roll out until you form a thin disc. It is my opinion that the thinner you roll the dough the better the pizza will be. Transfer the rolled base onto a baking tray ready for the toppings.

For the pizza toppings

3 cloves garlic – thinly sliced

3 large round tomatoes – chopped

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp brown sugar

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp. olive oil

Approx. 75g-100g mozzarella per pizza

To make the pizza sauce: Add 1 tbsp. of oil to a  saucepan and heat over a medium hot heat. Add the garlic to the hot oil and fry for 1 minute then add the chopped tomatoes and mix well. Cook until the tomatoes start to break down then add the herbs, the sugar and season to taste. Add the sauce to a mini blender or food processor and blitz until a smooth sauce is made.

Assembly and cooking: Spread a generous amount of the tomato sauce over the top of the rolled out pizza base, leaving a small crust round the outside. Tear pieces of mozzarella and spread evenly on top on the tomato sauce. Sprinkle a little extra ground black pepper on top and a little drizzle of olive oil.

Transfer to a hot oven (approx. 220°c fan) and cook for 12-15 minutes, until the pizza crust is golden brown and the cheese in the middle of the pizza bubbles away. Remove from oven, cool on a wire rack for a few minutes, then slice and enjoy.