Basic Pizza Base

Homemade Pizza is yummy, cheap and filling…what’s not to like?!

Serves: 3-6 (Makes 6 large slices, depends on how hungry you are!)

Time: 2 hours for dough and 35-45 mins cooking

Ingredients

• 2tsps of dried yeast (fast-action/easy bake variety)
• 1/2 pint/ 300ml warm water
• 30g butter/stork
• 1tsp of salt
• 1heaped tsp of sugar or clear honey
• 3 cups (or about 14oz) of bread flour (I usually use wholemeal, but to be honest I’ve also used cheap plain flour or a mix of flours if stocks are low and it’s always come out tasty)
• Oil for greasing tin
• toppings of your choice (Basic Passata, cheddar and Mozzarella pictured below)

Directions

• sprinkle yeast on top of the warm water and wait 15mins (or as long as packet states) for it to bubble and foam
• stir dry ingredients in a large bowl and cut in the butter (so it looks like breadcrumbs)
• if using honey, drizzle across the dry mix, then stir in the yeast liquid (if too wet add a sprinkle more flour)
• Knead soft dough for 10-15mins until it springs back when pressed
• put back into the bowl, cover with clean tea towel and put somewhere warm to rise (1-2 hours will see it double in size, I put mine on the window sill above radiator)
• Roll dough out on floured surface and preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
• Drizzle oil onto a large baking tray and place dough onto the tray, then add a sauce and toppings
• Cook in middle of your oven for 30 mins, if the centre is still runny or you want a crispy crust, move it up for last 10 minutes.

My basic topping:

• 1/3 carton of Passata (blended tomatoes, much cheaper than pizza sauce)
• A thin layer of grated cheddar
• some (supermarket own brand) mozzarella, sliced for the stringy cheese effect

If my daughter isn’t sharing it with us, I’ll also add red onion, sweetcorn, and dried oregano, but you can go wild and add cooked meats and even fruit….the possibilities are endless!

 

Let me know in the comments below which toppings you’ve tried.

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