Homemade Pizza
Pizza is the perfect choice for sharing with good company! We make a soft, homemade dough and a rich tomato sauce with garlic,wine and fresh basil. We roll out the dough, spread the sauce and add plenty of mozzarella, along with ham, bacon, mushrooms, peppers, olives and any other toppings we love. We bake until the cheese has melted and the crust is golden and crispy.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 kg strong country-style flour
- 11 grams dry yeast
- 4 tsp sugar
- 4 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 680 grams water
For the tomato sauce
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 125 ml white wine
- 800 grams canned grated tomatoes
- 70 grams tomato paste
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt and pepper
- A few fresh basil leaves from one sprig, or rocket (arugula), depending on the pizza toppings
For the pizza
- Coarsely grated mozzarella ham, bacon, mushrooms, peppers, onion, olives, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, sweetcorn and any other toppings you like.
Instructions
Making the dough
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, yeast and sugar. Mix well and add the salt. We do this to prevent the yeast from coming into direct contact with the salt, as this could prevent the dough from rising properly.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the olive oil and water. Knead well until we have a soft dough.
- Generously grease a large bowl with olive oil. Place the dough inside and turn it around the bowl so that it is coated all over with olive oil. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave the dough to rise for approximately 2 hours.
Making the tomato sauce
- Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and stir for a short while, taking care not to let it burn. Pour in the wine and let it come to a boil for about 1 minute.
- Add the grated tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper and basil leaves. Stir and leave the sauce to simmer uncovered until it thickens and becomes rich and velvety, approximately 15 minutes. Leave the sauce to cool.
Preparing the pizzas
- If we have a pizza stone, place it on an oven rack in the middle of the oven. If we don't have one, take the oven tray, turn it upside down and place it on the lower oven rack. Preheat the oven to its highest temperature, 260°C–280°C (500°F–535°F).
- Punch down the dough with our hands to release the air. Lightly flour our hands and divide the dough into balls, approximately the size of an orange.
- Cut a piece of baking parchment and place one ball of dough on top. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a round shape. If the dough is difficult to roll out and keeps springing back, leave it to rest for approximately 10 minutes.
- Using a fork, prick the entire surface of the dough, leaving approximately 2 cm around the edge untouched. Place the dough in the oven, still on the baking parchment, and transfer it onto the pizza stone or the upside-down oven tray. Bake for 4 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the oven and carefully discard the baking parchment. Spread approximately 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce over the partially baked dough. Add some grated mozzarella, followed by the toppings of our choice. Finish with a little more grated mozzarella.
- Return the pizza to the oven, without the baking parchment, and bake for another 4–5 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the crust is beautifully golden.
- Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves and, if we enjoy spicy flavours, add a few chilli flakes.
Notes
Important: We should not overload the pizza with too many toppings, as the dough will not crisp up properly. We should also avoid covering it with too much cheese—a light sprinkling is enough.