We love pizza. Love it, love it, love it!
There’s nothing tastier than a proper pizza made from scratch with real tomato sauce, fresh herbs and crunchy vegetables, if you have the time. We usually don’t, but the other day we did, yum.
I prefer to use English Cheddar rather than an Italian cheese, but that’s just me. You can do whatever you want with this recipe.
In fact, I would LOVE to hear from you about your favourite pizza toppings. What ingredients do you use? What is your favourite cheese? Do you have any cool tricks to make a really yummy pizza base?
By the way, you’ll need a rolling pin to flatten the dough if you make it yourself. If you’r feeling lazy, just compromise. No one will know if you use a fresh pizza base from the supermarket. (I won’t tell.)
So without further ado, here’s how to make a pizza from scratch…
Serves 4
Ingredients:
DOUGH: 500 g strong flour, 1/2 tbsp salt, 7 g dried yeast, 1/2 tbsp sugar, 330ml warm water, olive oil
TOMATO SAUCE: 1 x 400 g can of chopped plum tomatoes, a few fresh basil leaves, 2 cloves garlic, olive oil, pinch of salt and pepper
TOPPING: 100 g cheddar cheeze, 200 g bacon strips, various sliced vegetables: egg plant, courgette, red, green and yellow bell peppers, 1/2 onion, button mushrooms, a few leaves of fresh basil and oregano.
Instructions:
DOUGH:
1. Put the flour and salt onto a wide, flat (and very clean) kitchen top, or chopping board, mix it up and make a pile with it.
2. Then make a hole in the centre of the pile.
3. In a bowl, mix sugar and yeast in warm water. Let it sit for 3-4 minutes and then pour it into the hole in the flour mix.
4. Using a wooden spatula or a fork, start mixing the flour into the water and yeast mixture, pulling it from the outside into the centre, in small amounts.
5. When the dough gets so hard it can’t be mixed with the spatula, start using your hands and make a ball out of the dough.
6. Put flour on your hands if the dough is too sticky. Knead the dough for a full 10 minutes, stretching and pulling it, until the texture is “stretchy” and springy.
7. The thorough kneeding will get the gluten in the dough to become more ”elastic” – and this will give your pizza base a great texture.
8. Coat the inside of a medium-large bowl with olive oil, put the ball of dough in it and let it rise for 1 hour.
TOMATO SAUCE:
9. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves.
10. Pick apart or chop about 5-6 basil leaves.
11. Put a small pan on low heat and add a big glug of olive oil and then the garlic, let them cook for about 4 minutes and then add the basil, tinned tomatoes.
12. Add salt and pepper to taste.
13. Let the sauce simmer on low heat for 25 minutes and keep mashing the tomato bits with a wooden spoon.
PIZZA BASE and TOPPING:
14. Preheat oven to 250 ºC.
15. Put the bacon strips in the microwave, cook on a plate for 3-5 minutes until done, then drain the fat. Divide the pizza dough in two parts and make them into balls, then rest the dough balls for a further 10 minutes.
16. Once rested, roll the dough balls out with a rolling pin to about 1/2 cm thick.
17. Use some extra flour on the dough if it’s sticking to the rolling pin or the surface. Once you have your pizza bases ready, put them on baking paper on a baking tray.
18. Now it’s time for topping. Cover the pizza bases generously with tomato sauce, onion, vegetables, bacon, fresh basil, grated cheese and oregano – in that order.
19. Cook for about 8 minutes or until the pizza base is crisp and golden and the cheese has melted and is beginning to colour on top.
Buon appetitto!
If you like this recipe, leave a comment below and tell me about your favourite pizza toppings, cheeses or tips for making a good pizza dough - or anything else you want to share. I’d love to hear from you!
