Pizza evokes memories of good times spent with friends, movie nights with the family or can just be a very convenient fast food. A good pizza often oozes with melted cheese while the choice of toppings is truly endless.
This recipe is a very basic yeast-based dough, which can be made in 1 hour or less. Blind baking the dough will yield better results and a base that holds up to the sauce better. However, for the ultimate dough, which remains crispy, check out the sourdough recipe here….
Basic Pizza Dough
Course: Pizza, lunch, dinner, snackCuisine: American, ItalianDifficulty: Medium8
bases30
minutes1
hour210
kcal1
hour30
minutesA pizza is a savoury Italian dish made with a flat, thin round leavened dough base baked in a hot oven and topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and meats or vegetables.
Ingredients
10g instant yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
20 ml tepid water
250g bread flour
250g normal flour (cake flour), plus a bit extra for dusting
10g salt
350 ml water
oil for coating a bowl
Directions
- Place the yeast, sugar and tepid water in a bowl and leave for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to activate
- Weigh out the flour and the salt and place in a large mixing bowl, making sure that the salt is well mixed in with the flour as it can kill the yeast
- Add in most of the 350ml of water, reserving a bit and start to mix with a knife to ensure that the flour is wet. Add a bit more water if necessary. The dough should feel quite wet at this stage
- Add in the yeast mix and stir with the knife for another minute
- Dust a work surface with some flour and lightly oil a proofing bowl
- Tip the dough onto the work surface and knead for 10-20 minutes. The dough will be very wet at first but will start to develop a smooth skin and will start to hold together. Once it has a smooth skin, place it in the oiled bowl, cover it with a tea towel, and allow it to rise for about 1 hour. It should double in size
- Tip back onto the work surface, roll lightly into a sausage, and split off into about 8 portions
- Roll out each portion as needed. I like to make the center quite thin and leave the edges thicker. Prick the center of the pizza all over with a fork to stop it bubbling all over. If you want, you can let the dough rise for another 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 230 C
- Bake each base for about 7-10 minutes depending on the crispiness required.
- Take out of the oven, spread your sauce and toppings, and bake for a further 5 minutes or more until the cheese is melted
