Pizza

Pizza is easy, delicious, and perfect to make with kids. I use a bench top mixer with a dough hook and usually double the mix and freeze half of it. To use the frozen portion simply take it out of the freezer the morning you wish to make pizza and knead on the bench when thawed. Makes 2 x large 30 cm diameter pizzas or 6 x small 15 cm diameter pizzas, or 1 x large 30 cm pizza.

Ingredients

Pizza Base

8 g dry yeast

300 g luke warm water

20 g caster sugar

50 g olive oil

500 g bread flour

7 g fine sea salt

Pizza Topping Options
Ham and Pineapple
6 tablespoons tomato sauce (fresh tomatoes reduced in a sauce pan with a handful of herbs, then cooled, or a jar of pasta stir though sauce)
1/2 red onion finely chopped or sliced
1 1/2 slices double smoked ham
240 g tin pineapple slices in juice, drained
1/2 220 g tub bocconcini (cheese)
Hot Salami
3 tablespoons tomato sauce (fresh tomatoes reduced in a sauce pan with a handful of herbs, then cooled, or a jar of pasta stir though sauce)
1/2 red onion finely chopped or sliced
100 g hot Hungarian salami, shaved
15 calamata olives
1/2 220 g tub bocconcini (cheese)
Potato and Sage
2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
1 potato washed and very thinly sliced
handful of fresh sage leaves
drizzle of olive oil
Garlic
3 cloves garlic minced
drissle of olive oil
sea salt

Method

1. Preheat fan-forced oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. In the bowl of your mixer, lightly mix the yeast with the water, caster sugar and olive oil. Gently sprinkle the flour over the yeast mixture and put the salt on top of the flour. Let sit for 5 minutes.
3. Place the dough hook on the mixer and mix together on the lowest setting and knead for about 5 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky.
4. Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm spot for about an hour, or until doubled in size.
5. Place the bowl back on the mixer with the dough hook and knead for another 5 minutes. The dough is now ready to make into pizza.
6. Roll out the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface.
7. Place the rolled out bases onto pizza trays lightly brushed with olive oil.
8. Pizza is one of those things that is best with less. If you put too much topping on, the base will go soggy.
9. Spread out 1 tablespoon of the tomato sauce on each small pizza (3 tablespoons for a large pizza), then sprinkle with red onion, double smoked ham, pineapple, and bocconcini.
10. Cook for 17 minutes or until lightly browned across the top. If using a wood fired oven cook at 130 degrees for slightly longer, and watch it like a hawk!
11. Best served with fresh basil ripped across the top.