The Best Homemade Pizza.

The combination of mozzerella threatening to fall the wrong side of ‘cheesy’ and an open tin of tomatoes lurking in the fridge prompted a pizza-fest and the easiest bread recipe I have ever come across thanks to a South African called Trevor Daly.

You make an easy bread dough, pop it in a covered bowl and leave in the fridge overnight or amazingly for up to 3 days.  Over the coming days you can then pull bits of dough out of the fridge to use as pizza bases and ciabatta bread (see my ciabatta blog of 27 April 2012).

Just think, ten minutes on a Sunday night making the dough and you’ll have homemade pizza on Monday, homemade bread for Tuesday’s dinner party and bruschetta with the leftover ciabatta on Wednesday.  Genius.

Or opt for a kids’ tea party – make up the dough, put pre-chopped toppings in bowls and let their imaginations run wild. 

Ingredients, dough (makes 6 pizzas, of course depending on the size you make)

1 kg bread flour

10 g sachet instant yeast

4 tsp salt

750 ml ice cold water

Ingredients, topping (tops 1 large pizza)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1 tin drained chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

A handful of basil leaves

A pinch of caster sugar

Salt and pepper

Optional - Mozzerella, artichoke hearts, prosciutto, anchovies, biltong, olives, capers, rocket leaves, chorizo, pepperdew peppers, cherry tomatoes, crème fraiche, pesto, courgettes, parmesan, marscapone, dolchelatte, walnuts, baked beans….

Method - dough

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then gradually add the water stirring with a spoon. 

2. Wet your hands and then fold in the dough onto itself until it is smooth.  I added a little flour at this point to catalyse the change from sticky to smooth.

3. Leave the dough in the bowl and cover with cling film. Refrigerate for up to 3 days.

4. Preheat the oven to the highest it will go and place a baking tray in the oven to heat up.

5. Place the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, when hot add the sliced garlic.

6. After a couple of minutes (don’t let the garlic burn) add the tin of tomatoes and tomato puree and simmer until thickened, then add the basil leaves, a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper and remove from the heat.

7. Take a lump of dough from the fridge and shape into a thin circle or rectangle on a lightly floured surface.

8. Remove the baking tray from the oven and place the dough on top.

9. Spread the tomato sauce over the pizza base and then sprinkle over your toppings, leaving a 1-2 cm crust around the edge of the dough.

10. Pop the tray into the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the dough is crisp and the topping is bubbling.

The dough was completely divine being doughy yet crisp and was a complete breeze to make.  I thoroughly recommend serving it with a big salad and a glass of wine on a hot day.