Description
Here you have the recipe for the pizza base and the toppings I used for this particular pizza.
Scale
Ingredients
Pizza Base:
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 2 Tbsp honey (or brown sugar for vegan option)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
Toppings:
- 1 jar pre-made tomato pasta sauce of choice OR you can make your own: Heat 1 tin diced tomatoes in a small pot, add 1 Tsp tomato paste, 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp Italian herbs, pinch of salt, cracked black pepper, stir, bring to a simmer, cook for 3 mins then switch off heat.
- 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
- 3/4 cup olives, pitted and sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1 roasted capsicum sliced
- Fresh basil
Other toppings we often enjoy:
- Roasted sweet potato
- Red onion
- Artichokes
- Courgette
Instructions
Pizza Base – Dough
- In a mixing bowl add all the ingredients in the order that they are listed, water, yeast, honey, olive oil, flour, salt
- Either mix with a stand mixer and the dough hook attachment for 3 mins on a medium speed then 2 mins on a high speed
- Or combine ingredients with a wooden spoon until a sticky dough is formed then transfer to a floured work surface and knead with your hands until soft, smooth, and stretchy – about 8 mins.
- Oil the sides of a deep mixing bowl, transfer the dough into here, cover with a damp tea towel and allow to rise for 2-3 hours in a warm, draft free spot. It should more than double in size while it rises.
Assembly
- Once your dough has had sufficient rising time, preheat your oven to 180°C
- Line two baking trays with baking paper, set aside
- Clear and clean a work surface in your kitchen (Or you can do what I do; instead of lining the baking trays with the baking paper and setting aside, I actually just roll my dough on the baking paper, and then transfer the whole lot to the baking tray)
- Whatever surface you are working on, dust it generously with flour
- Tip all your dough onto your surface and divide evenly in two – for two large pizzas – or into as many sections as you want pizzas
- Roll your sections flat to about 5mm in thickness – dust the tops with extra flour to stop the rolling pin sticking if needed
- Once all your sections are rolled transfer to baking trays and put them into the oven to pre-bake for 8-10mins. If large bubbles start to form, open your oven and pop these bubbles with a sharp knife, don’t burn yourself!
- Once they are starting to get a touch of colour, remove them all from the oven and flip them over, you will put your toppings on the ‘bottom’
- Spoon generous amounts of your tomato sauce over the base, leaving 1-2 cms clean around the edges
- Then layer on your toppings!*
- Place back in the oven and bake for another 20-30mins, until the edges are golden brown
- Garnish with fresh basil, cracked black pepper and enjoy!
Notes
*If you add fresh basil on your pizza to bake with everything else you risk making basil ash – to avoid this – get a small bowl and add 2 Tbsp olive oil then generously coat each leaf in the oil before you pop it on your pizza.