Ok, so it takes a little longer than an hour to prepare and cook a pizza (scroll down to bottom for alternative & quicker recipe used during one of our online classes*)… but it is 100% worth it! Making everything completely from scratch makes it so much nicer. Follow this simple recipe and add any toppings you fancy. Even make it into a calzone**! Yum!
Ingredients
Makes Two Large Pizzas
Pizza Dough:
- 250g Strong Bread Flour/ Plain Flour
- 7g Dried Yeast
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 150ml Warm Water
- Olive Oil
Tomato Sauce:
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- Olive Oil
- 2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
- 400g Tin Chopped Tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Puree
- 1 Tsp Oregano
- 1 Tsp Basil
- Salt and Pepper
- 100g Fresh Mozzarella/ Cheddar
Directions
Pizza Dough
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, yeast and salt.
- Slowly add the water and use a cutlery knife to combine. Bring the dough together in your hands.
- Place the dough on a clean floured surface and knead it until it is soft with an even texture. When you press a finger into the dough to make a dent it should spring back and almost close up.
- Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with oiled Clingfilm. Leave until doubled in size (about an hour).
Pizza Sauce
- Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a saucepan and add the onion. Cook for a few minutes and add the garlic.
- Add the tomatoes, puree, oregano and basil. Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer for about an hour, until it thickens.
Building your Pizza
- Preheat the oven to 200ᵒc.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place onto a clean, lightly floured work surface.
- Roll the dough out into a round disk, about 5mm thick. Place onto an oiled baking tray.
- Taste the pizza sauce, season with salt and pepper and then spread onto the pizza.
- Thinly slice the mozzarella and scatter over your pizza.
- Place the pizza onto a floured baking tray and into the preheated oven. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove and enjoy!
*If you’d like your pizza sooner, make a non rise dough by mixing together 250g Plain Flour and 2 Tsp Baking Powder with 200g Plain Yoghurt, 20ml Olive Oil and 1 Tbsp Water with a cutlery knife. If the dough seems a little dry in places, add another tbsp of water. Lightly dust a worksurface with flour and knead your dough until smooth and not sticky. Split in half and roll into two pizza bases. Preheat your oven to 200ᵒc and place two large baking trays inside. Once the baking trays are hot, carefully lift your ready rolled pizza doughs onto them and bake in the oven for 2-3 minutes until they start to firm up. Remove from the oven, spread over the sauce (as above), sprinkle with cheese and place back in the oven for a further 8-10 minutes until the base is cooked (it shouldn’t be doughy) and the cheese has melted.
**To make a calzone: Once you have topped your pizza with sauce, cheese and whatever filling you fancy, fold the pizza in half, pinching and folding the edges together towards the pizza. Squeeze it tight enough to stick the dough together and make sure no holes remain, otherwise you filling may spill out. Cook for 15 minutes, on a floured baking tray, until the calzone is lightly golden.
Made by you…
