In this mini-series, our friends at Lunch Lady Magazine share three of their epic recipes exclusively with Habitat. These creations are a surefire hit with the entire household and are super easy to make. With autumn on the way, it’s time to get back into pizza night! There’s nothing like a fully homemade pizza dough to take this classic to the next level. Try either of these doughs out — they’re quick to make and will rise beautifully before you add your sauce and toppings.
Old-school Italian pizza base
- 1/2 tsp dried yeast
- 400ml / 13.5 fl oz warm water
- 500g / 1lb ‘00’ flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp salt
- oil, for greasing
- Mix the yeast and water together in a jug and let sit for 5 minutes until bubbly.
- While waiting for the yeast mix, put flour and salt in a big mixing bowl and whisk them together, and then make a well in the middle.
- Once the yeast and water have become bubbly, pour into the well you made in the flour and bring the ingredients together with a wooden spoon or spatula until they form a ball.
- Pop the ball of dough onto a lightly floured bench and knead for about 10 minutes.
- Place kneaded dough into an oiled mixing bowl.
- Cover with plastic wrap and leave somewhere warm for about 20 minutes. It should double in size.
- Preheat oven to 220˚C / 425˚F / Gas Mark 7 and pop in a pizza stone or baking tray.
- Once the pizza dough has risen, lightly flour your bench and cut dough into little balls.
- Roll out your dough until it is about 7mm / 1/4″ thick. (You can of course make it as thin or as thick as you like.)
- Place some baking paper on a cutting board and pop your base on top.
- Cover with toppings of your choice, and then take the cutting board with your pizza to the oven and slide onto baking tray or pizza stone.
- Place in the oven for about 10–15 minutes until crust is golden and topping has cooked.
Traditional pizza sauce
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
- 400g / 14oz tinned crushed tomatoes
- 700g / 1.5lb tomato passata
- few big pinches of salt
- Heat oil over low heat, pop in the garlic cloves and cook until golden.
- Add tinned tomatoes, passata and salt.
- Leave to simmer for a long time — like, 2 hours. Add more water if it becomes too thick. Stir occasionally and test for salt — don’t skimp!
- Remove garlic cloves.
- You can either use your sauce straight away or, if you have a glut of tomatoes, save it for another day.
For Preserving
- Pour pizza sauce into sterilised jars and securely place lid on.
- Place jars in a large saucepan, fully cover them with water and boil for 25 minutes.
- Leave to cool and store in pantry.
For freezing
- Follow steps 1–10 of the Old-School Italian pizza base recipe.
- Place the un-topped pizza base into the oven for 4-5 minutes.
- Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
- Repeat with the rest of your dough.
- Once finished, spread the pizza sauce evenly over each pizza base.
- Wrap each base in a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of foil.
- Pop in the freezer.
- When you’re ready to make pizza, remove pizza base from the freezer — no need to defrost—and add your choice of toppings.
- Pop your pizza in the oven at 220˚C / 425˚F / Gas Mark 7 for 10-15 minutes, until toppings are cooked and your cheese is melty.
Try these with preferred pizza toppings!
The post Pizza perfection: how to bake the ultimate savoury treat appeared first on Habitat.
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