RECIPE: Pizza

It’s National Pizza Day on 9th February (yes that is such a thing!) so we thought it no better time to share our homemade pizza recipe. It’s really easy to make and so much tastier than anything store bought (with no nasty preservatives!).

This recipe serves four as a main course.

To make the dough…

 

INGREDIENTS

– 450g/1 lb strong white flour

– 2 teaspoons dried yeast or instant yeast

– 4 tablespoons warm water

– 225ml/8 ozs warm water

– 3 tablespoons olive oil

– pinch salt

 

METHOD

– Sprinkle the dried yeast in the 4 tablespoons of warm water and leave to stand until it is fully
dissolved and it begins to bubble. (If using the instant yeast, omit this stage and mix the yeast
directly with the flour, adding the water and oil as below)

– Place the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour on the olive oil, the dissolved yeast mixture and
about 6 ozs of the warm water.

– Mix this together using one hand, whilst the other hand holds the bowl. If the dough is too dry,
add warm water to it. If the dough is too sticky, add a few tablespoons of extra flour. Mix the
dough together to form a rough ball and then knead it on a work surface until it is smooth and
pliable.

– Place the dough in the bowl and coat with a little olive oil.

– Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. This will take approximately ½ hour.

– While the dough is rising, prepare the toppings. You can use any toppings you like but the ones
listed below are traditional.

 

For the toppings…

INGREDIENTS

– A few tablespoons of olive oil

– Fried onions

– Tomato sauce

– Mozzarella cheese cut into small cubes

– Finely chopped parsley

– Sliced or crushed garlic

– Anchovies

– Olives

– Artichokes preserved in oil

– Oregano dried

 

– When the dough has doubled in volume, knock it down with your fist. Pat or roll it into desired shape – either one large pizza or several smaller ones. Spread the dough out by working from the middle outwards, easing it gently all the time. Do not be tempted to stretch the dough because it will simply shrink back. Place the rolled dough onto a lightly greased and floured baking tray.

– Smear a little olive oil over the pizza base. Then arrange the various toppings on it. Start with the tomato sauce. Then add the cheese, followed by the anchovies and olives, then the garlic and a little more olive oil (they can be mixed together if you are using crushed garlic) and finally the parsley, salt and pepper.

– Bake the pizza at the hottest temperature that your oven reaches – usually about 250ºC/450ºF. Bake for about 20 minutes for a large pizza for a shorter time for individual pizza.

– Serve hot directly from the oven.

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