It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? I am baking a lot more now but I forget to take pictures. However, I made pizza the other night and took pictures because it’s my first pizza dough that actually turned out well, my second pizza dough attempt at all. Yeast intimidates the hell out of me so I used to stay away from it even though I love all yeasty goodness.
Anyway, we usually buy cheap $3 pizzas and add our own toppings on to it. The easiest part is the toppings, right? I decided it was time to try out making our own pizza bases. The first time it didn’t go very well. It was edible but I don’t think I kneaded it enough. This time, I kneaded it for 10 minutes. I timed myself to be sure. It rose beautifully and I got pretty excited. After it rose I made the base shape. I didn’t roll it out, I just pressed it and pulled it and learned how to make the actual crust shape by watching videos of it on YouTube.
I let it rise again after I shaped it because it wasn’t time for dinner yet. When it was time for the toppings I put pasta sauce, pineapple, bacon and cheese on one. The other had grilled onions, chorizo, and cheese with of course the pasta sauce. We’ll eventually branch out into other toppings but we generally stick to old faithful.
These were just cooked on baking sheets so the crust wasn’t overly crunchy. The bottom really could being more browned but I need to read up how to do that without having a pizza stone. However, this turned out so good.
Also, I threw some oregano and garlic powder into the crust. So good.
Ingredients
- 375ml (1 1/2 cups) warm water
- 2 teaspoons (7g/1 sachet) dried yeast
- Pinch of caster sugar
- 600g (4 cups) plain flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil, plus extra for brushing
Instructions
- Combine the water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes or until foamy. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture and oil. Use a round-bladed knife in a cutting motion to mix until the mixture is combined. Use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl.
- Brush a bowl lightly with oil. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in the prepared bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draught-free place to rise for 30 minutes or until dough doubles in size.
- Recipe from Taste.com.au
