The ultimate meal in our house is pizza. We LOVE pizza and this Quick and Easy Homemade Pizza recipe comes out perfect every time.
At least once a week we have pizza. Normally after work on a Friday night, when we are just happy the week is over. We would normally order in or have store-bought bases in the freezer, throw on some toppings and cheese then bake.
But ever since my hubby decided he wanted to make his own pizza bases, we searched for something a bit more versatile and authentic. We came across this great recipe from a real Italian Chef who made the process seem so simple. We adjusted the number of ingredients to be able to make smaller batches and perfecto! Amazing crispy on the outside, doughy on the inside pizza bases that taste amazing.
Fold Kneading
Similar to the usual kneading of dough. Instead of just pressing down (punching) into the dough, rather have the idea of folding. So press down and stretch the dough a little. Then with one hand in the middle of the dough use your other hand and take the end of the dough that is furthest away from you and stretch it over your first hand towards you. Then use both hands and press down. Add a bit of flour if sticky. Keep repeating the process until the dough does not stick to the counter surface.
Tips and Tricks
An awesome tip I learned when waiting on your dough to rise, especially if it is a bit of a cold day. Once you have your kneaded dough and placed it in a tray to rest, place the tray in the microwave with the door slightly open so that the light is on. The light in the microwave generates a good amount of heat to make your dough rise quite quickly. (Please do not microwave your dough, lol)
Cheese and toppings: We always place the cheese before the pizza toppings, so that the toppings get a chance to cook evenly while in the oven then sink into the cheese. This gives your pizza toppings much more flavor.
Tomato sauce: This is a quick and easy tomato sauce with all the rich flavour. Place a teaspoon of oil into a hot pan. Fry 3 cloves of chopped garlic with 1 packet (4 tablespoons) of tomato paste and let simmer for a few minutes. Add 6 fresh diced tomatoes or a can of tomatoes and a quarter teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of dried oregano and let simmer until the tomatoes are cooked, remember to stir occasionally. Once cooked take off the heat and add to base when required.
Quick and Easy Homemade Pizza
Ingredients
- 500 grams All-purpose flour
- 325 ml Warm Water
- 7 grams Instant Dry Yeast
- 1 tsp Salt
- Semolina Flour for dusting
Instructions
- Place warm water in a bowl and sprinkle yeast on top. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Add sifted flour and salt in a operate bowl. Once yeast mixture has bubbled slightly add to the flour and salt.
- Mix dough with a wooden spoon. Once combined, place on a floured surface and fold kneading as explained above. Add additional flour to dough as needed until dough does not stick to the counter.
- Once kneaded, form into a round ball. Press down slightly to flatten a bit, then cut into four equal pieces. Form the pieces into round balls and place on a baking try. Leave space in-between each ball so that the dough has space to rise. Sprinkle Semolina flour over the balls and place a damp kitchen towel / cloth over the balls and let rise. Leave to rest for 2 hours in a warm place or use my microwave trick above.
- Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
- Once your dough has doubled in size, place one dough ball on a floured surface and roll out to desired size, normally 28-30CM.
- Sprinkle a little semolina on the pizza plate, and lay the rolled out dough on to the plate. Cover the top of the dough with tomato sauce, (directions above). Sprinkle with cheese then add toppings as desired.
- Bake for about 13-15 minutes until you can see that the dough has turned golden brown on the edges.
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