There's just something about making your own pizza dough. Perhaps it sparks memories of days of Play-doh as a child? Or is it just that the kneading process really helps with those iso-frustrations? Either way, the lockdown period had seen us knock together quite a few of these bad boys. We even invested in a proper pizza stone for the oven (I use the term 'invested' loosely, as it cost $20 and after a few uses is covered in burnt cheese and sauce and is probably now worth exactly $0) which helps crisp up that base so it's up to the task of holding up the ham, cheese, mushrooms, olives, whatever else you feel like loading it up with! On this day we went with a classic capricciosa, but stay tuned for some other delicious pizza options!
Makes 1 large pizza
Prep: 1.5 hours
Cook: 10 minutes
Ingredients
Pizza dough:
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp active-dry yeast
1 cup plain flour, plus extra to dust
1 tsp salt
Topping:
2 tbsp pizza sauce
2 tsp dried Italian herbs (basil, parsley, oregano, thyme)
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
100g shaved leg ham
10 kalamata olives, halved
10 button mushrooms, halved
5 artichoke hearts, from a jar
Handful baby spinach
Method
To make the pizza dough, dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and add salt. Pour in the water and yeast and use a butter knife to combine into a shaggy dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and bring together, kneading, for at least 10 minutes. Spray a large bowl with oil to prevent sticking, add the dough, cover with a tea towel and set aside for an hour until it has doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 200C. If you have a pizza stone, heat it up in the oven. If not, use an oven tray turned upside down. Place a sheet of baking paper between the tray and the dough.
Punch the dough back down and knead it on the bench for another minute. Shape it into a large circle (use a rolling pin to get you started, but I find I always end up finishing it by hand.)
Carefully place the dough on the heated stone or tray. Add the sauce and use the back of a spoon to spread it to the edges. Sprinkle over the Italian herbs, then add the cheese, ham, olives, artichokes, spinach and mushrooms. I like to spray the edges of the dough with olive oil at this point to get a nice golden crust.
Bake your pizza for ten minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese beautifully melted. Serve immediately!
Comments