Pizza Base Food

BASIC PIZZA

Steps:

• For the dough, pile the flours and 1 level teaspoon of sea salt onto a clean surface and make a well in the centre.
• Add the yeast and sugar to 650ml lukewarm water, mix together and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well.
• Using a fork and a circular movement, slowly bring in the flour from the inner edge of the well and mix into the water. Continue to mix, bringing in all the flour - when the dough comes together and becomes too hard to mix with your fork, flour your hands and begin to pat it into a ball.
• Knead the dough by rolling it backwards and forwards, using your hands to stretch, pull and push the dough. Keep kneading for 10 minutes, or until you have a smooth, springy, soft dough.
• Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to to prove for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
• For the sauce, peel and finely slice the garlic, then pick the basil leaves and finely chop the stalks.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan on a medium-low heat, add the garlic and basil stalks, then cook gently for a couple of minutes, or until the garlic is lightly golden, then add most of the basil leaves, the tomatoes, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
• Leave the sauce to tick away for around 20 minutes, or until smooth, breaking up the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon. When the time's up, taste, and season to perfection.
• To assemble the pizzas, divide the dough in half. Wrap one half in clingfilm and freeze for another day. With the remaining half, divide the dough into 4 equal balls.
• Flour each dough ball, then cover with clingfilm, and leave to rest for about 15 minutes - this will make them easier to roll it thinly.
• Dust a clean surface and the dough with a little flour or semolina, and roll it out into a rough circle, about ½cm thick.
• Tear off an appropriately sized piece of tin foil, rub it with olive oil, dust well with flour or semolina and place the pizza base on top. Continue doing the same with the remaining dough, dust with a little flour so you can pile them up. Cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge.
• When you're ready to cook them, preheat the oven to 250°C/500°F/gas 9.
• At this stage you can apply your topping: spread the tomato sauce over the base, spreading it out to the edges. Tear over the mozzarella and scatter with the remaining basil leaves. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and add a pinch of salt and pepper.
• If you can, cook the pizzas on a piece of granite in your conventional oven - if not, cook them one by one on pieces of tin foil directly on the bars of the oven shelf, towards the bottom of the oven (If you're going to cook your pizzas on the bars of the oven, make sure they're not too big - otherwise they'll be difficult to manoeuvre). Cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the pizzas are golden and crispy.
• Here are some of my favourite topping ideas: Mozzarella, anchovies, chilli, capers and parsley Smoked pancetta, mozzarella, fresh chilli and tomatoes Egg, prosciutto, artichokes, olives, mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil Green and red grapes, rosemary, pine nuts and ricotta Potatoes, mozzarella, rosemary, thyme and tomatoes Slow-roasted shredded pork with thyme, Taleggio and lemon-dressed rocket

SIMPLE PIZZA BASE

Steps:

• Put the flour, yeast and 1 tsp salt into a large bowl. Stir in 500ml of slightly warm water and the oil. You should end up with a wettish dough that is rough and lumpy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover with a tea towel and if your kitchen is cool keep it out, but if it's warm put it in the bottom of the fridge. Leave dough to rise for at least 6 hrs or until doubled in size.
• When ready to cook, bring the dough to room temperature. Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Dust 2-4 baking sheets with semolina. Dust the work surface with flour, then divide the dough into 2 or 4 pieces. Knead each piece on the floured surface, incorporating enough flour to stop the dough being sticky.
• Roll each piece into a pizza shape and lift onto baking sheets. Leave to rise for 10 mins while you sort toppings (see ideas, below). Top the bases with your chosen ingredients, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and bake following the timings for each topping (18 mins for a large pizza or 12 mins for an individual) or until the crust is crisp and the topping is bubbling.

EASY PIZZA BASE - NO NEED TO PROVE

Steps:

• Combine the yeast, flour, sugar & salt in a bowl.
• Add water & oil.
• Mix with a metal spoon until dough comes together.
• Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 - 7 minutes or until elastic.
• Roll out to 3/4 cm thick.
• Bake in a 220 degree celcius fan forced oven for 10-12 minutes.
• Note: You can brush the base with a little garlic oil if you are going to bake the base first before putting your pizza ingredients on (this gives a crispier base).
• Alternatively you can load your pizza toppings on the unbaked base, which will give you a lovely softer pizza base.

EASY AND AWESOME PIZZA BASE RECIPE

Steps:

• Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water and leave for 5 minutes.
• While waiting, sift the flour into your mixing bowl. Add the salt & oil.
• Once a foam has formed on the yeasty water pour it in and start mixing. Add more water as required (varies depending on climate, humidity etc.) until the dough feels like a young woman's breast. I was taught this by a baker many years ago and while it sounds rude, it really is the easiest way to describe how a good dough should feel. Now clean your mixing bowl.
• This next part, while not vital, does make a noticeable difference. Rub oil around the surface of the dough, put it in your clean mixing bowl and stick it in the fridge. Leave it there for as long as possible (24 hours is best but 6 hours is ok). If you don't have time for the fridge don't stress - just skip it and move on.
• If you used the fridge you will have noticed your dough rose, albeit slowly. Take your dough out of the fridge and let it rise some more.
• Once risen pound the crap out of it to flatten it again but don't knead it too much. Cut your dough into 3 or 4 balls, roll them flat, fold them up and roll them again. This creates air pockets which expand giving your base the authentic 5 star Italian wood-fired look and feel in the comfort of your own home. If the dough begins to feel tough while you're working it, let it rest for 5 minutes. It's just the gluten tightening up and resting it relaxes it.
• Top your bases and cook for 10 minutes or so. If you make thicker bases it often pays to partly cook the base for 5 min then top and bake again.
• Enjoy!