This is the recipe that we use to cook pizza. We use a cast iron pizza pan to cook this pizza as this allows you to easilly make a thin and crispy base, so these instructions show you how to cook the pizza in a cast iron pan. You may be able to adapt this to cooking in a baking tray but we haven't tested it!
Ingredients
Pizza Base:
- 300g Strong White Flour
- 190ml Warm Water
- 7g Fast Action Yeast (1 sachet)
- 1tsp Salt
- 1tbsp Sugar
- A Splash of Olive Oil
Topping:
- Approx. 2tbsp Tomato Puree
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- Mixed Herbs
- Medium Chedar Cheese
- Whatever Else You Fancy!
Method
Pizza Base:
Place the flour in a large mixing bowl. Make 2 little wells in the flour on either side and place the salt in one and the yeast in the other, without letting them touch as this could kill the yeast. Add the sugar and olive oil, and 2/3 of the water.
Begin mixing to form a dough, adding the rest of the water bit by bit as the dough becomes dry. You may need slightly more or less water. Once all of the water has been incorporated, knead the dough for about 5 minutes.
Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out the dough into a thin sheet. Try to roll it out into a circular shape slightly bigger than the base of your pan. Very lightly flour the pan and place the dough into it, trimming around the edges so that it completely covers the base of the pan. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
Toppings:
Finely chop or crush the garlic and place in a small bowl with about 2 tbsps of tomato puree (enough to cover the base) and a sprinkling of mixed herbs. Mix together, and add a small amount of water so that it is easy to spread. You don't want it to be too runny or the base of the pizza will go soggy.
Spread the sauce over the pizza base (I use the back of a spoon to do this) and then add the other toppings on top. Finally add some grated cheese on top of everything.
Cooking the Pizza
Preheat the oven to 200°C (this is the temperature I use and mine is a fan oven).
Place the pan on the biggest ring on your stove and heat on full power for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and transfer the pizza into the hot oven - you will need to use oven gloves as the handles will be hot. Leave the pizza in the oven for 8 - 10 minutes (you may need to experiment with the timings depending on your oven).
Once the pizza is cooked, remove it from the pan by first loosening it with a spatula, and then sliding something underneath it and sliding it out onto a chopping board. This is tricky! It's easiest to do this with 2 people: First loosen it by sliding the spatula all around it. Then one of you should lift up the pan and tilt it, while the other person slides in a spatula (possibly 2) and then the other person can slide the pan out from underneath it.
Cut into slices and eat!
Variations
Try using 2/3 white flour and 1/3 wholemeal flour for the base.
After you have finished adding the toppings, crack an egg on top of the pizza before putting it in the oven. You could put one egg in the centre or put a couple of them so that everyone gets a slice with an egg on it.
Some toppings we like are:
- Red Peppers
- Tomato
- Red Onion
- Mozerella (cut into circles, in adittion to the cheese sprinkled on top)
- Artichoke Hearts
- Anchovies
- Black Olives
- Sweetcorn
- Wilted Spinach (wilt it first in a frying pan without oil)
You can use whatever you like!
Remember you don't all have to have the same toppings! I only put anchovies on my half as Yu Lee doesn't like them!
If the Base Goes Soggy:
This recipe should result in a crispy, evenly cooked base. If the base goes soggy it probably means you made the tomato sauce too thin, or put too many wet ingredients on the pizza. You can mop some of the excess juice off of things like tomatoes with a paper towel to help prevent this.