Recipe Basics - Pizza

Lots of people are put off making their own pizza dough. Fair enough I guess, most supermarkets sell plain bases now as well as bases with sauce or even the entire pre-made pizza. So why would you bother making your own dough?

Because it tastes better! And isn't that always the way?

As with most baked goods, you just can't beat something that is made fresh. I think by making your own dough you get a much lighter and less floury pizza base.

Making your own pizza dough is surprisingly simple. There are very few ingredients and very few steps. The only thing is that the dough needs time to rise, so you need to leave anywhere from 30 minutes to and hour for that to happen. But apart from that, no reason to be scared of it.

I'm going to give you the measurements that will make enough pizza for a family of 5 (see below photo which I've included my hand in for an idea of size). This is actually 3 times the quantity of the original recipe we use. I'll also include the original measurements at the end so you don't need to worry yourself adjusting them if you're just cooking for 1 or 2.

INGREDIENTS
45g compressed yeast OR 21g dry yeast (dry yeast is more common in supermarkets so make sure you know which one you have - for example, I use this brand and I use 3 packets)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
4 1/2 plain flour (if you have bread flour, you should use it for your dough, but normal flour is also perfectly fine)
a pinch of salt
6 tablespoons oil (this is pizza and pizza is Italian so I use olive oil)

METHOD
1. In a small bowl mix yeast, sugar and lukewarm water and let sit for 10 minutes or until bubbles appear on surface

2. Into a larger bowl sift the flour and salt and make a well in the centre, then add the oil and yeast mixture and mix with a wooden spoon to form a dough (don't worry if it doesn't come together completely or looks very flaky and dry, it should sort itself out in the next step)

3. Gather the dough and knead on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes, after which your dough should no longer be flaky and dry but smooth and elastic (see this gif I made for an example)

4. Lightly oil the large bowl and return kneaded dough into it, then leave in a warm area for 30 minutes or until doubled in size (assist this process by filling a large sink with hot water and placing your bowl in there - also, you can't over rise a dough so because I use 3 times the original measurements, I'll leave mine to rise for an hour)

5. Preheat oven to 200 Celsius or 390 Fahrenheit

6. Take dough out and knock it back (as in literally punch it down to get out excess air)

7. Separate into sections, roll out on a greased pizza pan or flat baking tray, and top with whatever you like

8. Bake in oven for 10 to 20 minutes (it honestly just depends on your oven so I'd recommend checking it after 10, but don't be afraid if it takes up to 20 minutes to cook)

And then you devour your pizza.

This recipe is so well loved in our house I think we have about 4 copies of it scattered across the house. Give it a go and I promise the result will be fabulous. Who knows, it might become a regular weekly meal like it is in my family.

TIPS & TRICKS

• 7 grams dry yeast = 15 grams compressed yeast
• Often step 1 wont require the full 10 minutes for the bubbles to form
• If your dough feels too dry after a few minutes of kneading it, just add some water
• If you don't want to use the dough right away, you can roll it out and freeze for a few days, just add an extra 10 minutes to your cooking time
• I keep the base fairly thick but you can also roll the dough thinner to feed more people, just keep in mind your cooking time will be closer to the 10 minutes then
• Instead of using a plain tomato sauce, try a basilica which you can find in the pasta sauce section in your supermarket

ORIGINAL MEASUREMENTS
15g compressed yeast OR 7g dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 cups plain flour
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons oil


Until next time.