Jun 20, 2010

SO GRATIFYING - HOMEMADE PIZZA

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Maybe there is something intimidating about the thought of homemade pizza, but it really isnt that difficult. Of course, in an ideal dream-kitchen we would all have a wood-fired oven and dough rolling skills of a pizzaiolo, but if that's not the case, making it from scratch without the fancy accessories can work out just as well.
In my opinion, you really need two things. Firstly, you need to find a great base pizza dough recipe- and never lose it! I have mine, and because sharing, is caring you'll find it at the end of this post. Secondly, you need superb quality ingredients to dress up a wonderful dough. Coupled with some creativity, just unleash your imagination...let your tastebuds guide you into choice of toppings, cheeses, herbs, etc. Here is what I went for:

First off, the pizza dough...
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Option 1: garlic rubbed dough, mozzarella, mushrooms, dash of black pepper. I love mushrooms on my pizza- the more, the better!
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Option 2: a classic margarita
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Ten minutes later, my mushroom pizza was ready and I topped on a mixture of arugula and chopped fresh basil
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I think this deserves another shot :)
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And here is the margarita, the edible incarnation of the expression ''simplicity at it's best'' !
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Recipe for basic pizza dough - makes 2 large pizzas

400gr flour
15gm dried yeast + 40ml warm water
200ml water + 1 teaspoon salt
Olive oil for brushing

Mix the dried yeast & warm water in a cup, leave for 15 minutes until frothy.
Prepare a bowl with the flour. Form a well in the center and add the yeast mixture. Mix, then add the 200ml water with the salt. Knead dough for 10 minutes. Form two balls, leave dough to rise in a container that has been brushed with olive oil. I usually leave my dough to rise for at least 5 hours, sometimes I will leave it overnight.
Preheat oven to 220C. Knead the dough again for 5 mins, roll out thinly on a baking tray, add your choice of toppings and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden and crisp.

4 comments:

Joy said...

I finally tackled homemade pizza. I love the results better than buying it. Great recipe and your pizza looks great.

Kath said...

Beautiful photos of beautiful pizzas! (I discovered your blog through your photo on photograzing.com)

Arlene said...

Sorry Im new to pizza making =p do you let it rise in the frig or room temp.?

Marianna said...

Hi Arlene- at room temperature.
Preferably somewhere warm too. But if you leave it rise overnight leave it at normal room temperature- because if you leave it somewhere too warm it might form a crust the next day! :)