It’s so easy to make your own pizzas at home, and fun too! Children will love rolling their own pizza out, spreading them with homemade tomato sauce and choosing their own unique toppings.
Makes 4 pizzas
For the tomato sauce:
-
- 2 very finely diced red onions
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 400g can tomatoes
- Olive oil
- Oregano
- Salt and pepper
For the pizzas:
-
- 500g plain, strong white flour
- 10g salt
- 10g fresh or 15g dried yeast
- About 320ml warm water
- 50ml olive oil
- One batch tomato sauce (see below)
- 2 balls of mozzarella (or one bag grated mozzarella)
- Toppings of your choice
1. First, make the tomato sauce. Using a heavy bottomed deep sided frying pan or casserole, sweat the onions in a little olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and stir briefly and then add the tomatoes. Bring to a gentle simmer and then add about 1 tsp of salt and some black pepper. You are now going to cook this sauce for at least 30 minutes on a medium heat. It should be bubbling gently but don’t let it burn. To stop it sticking, you will have to stir it occasionally and add a little water every so often to prevent it getting too thick and reduced before it has had the time to become sweet and concentrated in flavour. It can be used as a base for pizza or a spaghetti sauce or with meatballs.
2. For the pizza bases, put the flour in a large bowl and add the salt. Add the warm water to the yeast and stir with a spoon or your finger until dissolved. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture, followed by 25ml olive oil. Start to stir the liquids into the flour, starting from the centre and working outwards, using one hand only and gradually drawing down the flour from the sides of the bowl. Add a little more water if necessary. Once the dough has come together, turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until soft, smooth and elastic.
3. Cover and leave to rise in a warmish place until doubled in size – about 1hr.
4. Divide the dough into four balls for four pizzas. Have well-oiled baking sheets ready, oven at its highest temperature (250C / Gas 9 is not too hot) and your choice of toppings standing by at room temperature.
5. Roll the balls into 23cm circles about half a centimetre deep or even thinner if you like, but not so thin that you can’t transfer them to the baking sheet without them falling apart.
6. Once on the baking sheet, spread a thin layer of tomato sauce onto the pizza bases; not quite to the edge so that the crust rises slightly above the topping. Add mozzarella (tear over half a ball per pizza or just a good handful of grated), top with an even layer of toppings and divide the remaining olive oil over the top. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the crust is crisp and coloured.
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