There are many varieties of pizza out there and believe me I've tried to like shop bought pizza, you can pick up a frozen pizza for a couple of pounds in some supermarkets making it a cheap and easy option. Yet invariably they consist of a hard base topped with too many ingredients and the delicious simplicity of probably one of the most famous dishes in the world is lost.
A really good pizza base is rolled thinly, the heat of the oven gets the yeast into action creating lovely light bubbles, simple toppings of ripe tomatoes, olive oil, mozzarella cheese and olives should be sparse as the base is the equal ingredient.
In Italy wood ovens are used to give the pizza base an amazing flavour and texture, a far cry from the dry bread like texture of most shop bought pizzas. A good substitute for a wood oven is to measure your oven then order a slab of granite or marble about 2.5cm/1 inch thick, from a builder's merchant- a really good long term investment if you like eating pizza! You then preheat your oven to its highest temperature and it will absorb the heat like the base of a wood oven. Lay your slab on the metal bars in your oven and once hot, pull it out half-way and lay your pizza on top.
Pizza dough is actually very easy to make and once you have the ingredients very economical. Once you have mastered the art of making the dough you will find yourself making pizzas as a means of using up leftovers: overripe tomatoes, cheese past its best, leftover meat........and believe me you won't eat another frozen pizza ever again!
Lastly I would like to say that making pizza with children is really good fun particularly spinning the pizza dough! It's a good opportunity to give children different ingredients to experiment with to 'design' their pizza.
Basic pizza dough
Recipe
Makes 6-8 medium-sized thin pizza bases
800g strong white bread flour
200g fine ground semolina flour
1 level tablespoon fine sea salt
2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
650ml lukewarm water
Pile flours and salt onto a clean surface and make a 7 inch well in the centre
Add yeast and sugar to tepid water, mix with a fork
Pour yeast mix into the well
Using a circular movement with your fork, slowly bring in the flour from the inner edge of the well and mix into the water
Continue, bringing in all the flour, when the dough comes together and becomes too hard to mix with your fork, flour your hands and begin to pat it into a ball
Knead the dough for 10 minutes until you have a smooth springy soft dough
Cover with clingfilm and allow to rest for 15 minutes at room temperature
Divide the dough into 6 balls
Roll the pizzas out into rough circles about 1/4 inch thick
Preheat your oven to its highest temperature, heat your slab
Add toppings to your base, place pizza on hot slab and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the pizzas are golden and crispy
You can buy semolina flour online £1.79 for 1kg and strong white bread flour £1.99 for 1.5kg. Given that I made 6 pizzas using 800g of bread flour and 200g semolina flour you can see how cost effective making your own pizzas can be! I am not suggesting making pizza from scratch after a hard days work, however, pizza dough refrigerates and freezes well. Wrap your ball of dough tightly in clingfilm and freeze, remove it in the morning and by dinner time all you need do is roll it out, scatter some toppings on and hey presto a delicious homemade pizza!
'It is important to experiment and endlessly seek after creating the best possible flavours when preparing foods. That means not being afraid to experiment with various ingredients.'
-Rocco DiSpirito
Order your slab and have fun making pizzas
Love Donna xxxxxxxx
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