Hubby's Homemade pizza dough

Hubby's Homemade Pizza Dough

This is a recipe I let my husband make for us as I'm very messy when I work with flour, but he says it's easy and as he is not normally a cook or a baker, I am sure it is! It is a weekend dish as you do need time for the dough to rise, but it's a fun weekend dish to do especially with kids as they can join in and make their own pizza (although my little one isn't QUITE there yet). 

Time taken?: 15-20 mins to mix the dough, plus 1 hour to rise, and then about 10-15 to top and 10- 15 to cook.

2 year old friendly?: Yes, we even made him his own little pizza. Also a good way to hide veggies under the cheese or mixed into the sauce.

This dough makes about 2 individual sized pizzas and makes a 'medium' crust. We usually do 1.5 times this so we have extra for the little one and make large pizzas so we have extra for next day leftovers. 

Ingredients

2 satchels packet yeast

1 cup warm water (or more or less as needed)

2 cups bread flour plus extra for dusting etc.

1/3 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Method

Put the yeast in a small bowl and add about 1/2 cup of the warm water.

Stir gently until the yeast has dissolved. Set aside until frothy (about 10 mins).

Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture, oil and enough of the remaining warm water o obtain a fairly sticky dough (my husband likes to use a food processor to mix, but you can definitely mix it manually)

Dust a clean work surface with extra flour. Scrape all the dough out of the bowl onto the work surface. Shape into a firm, round ball. 

Knead the dough for 8-10 mins. When it is firm and no longer sticks to your hands or the work surface, lift it up and bang it down a couple of times to develop the gluten.

When ready, the dough will be smooth and elastic and show definite air bubbles beneath the surface. Place in a large oiled bowl and cover with a cloth. Set aside to rise for 1 hour.

When done rising, knead and stretch the dough into the desired shape, size and thickness for your pizza. Top with your favourite toppings and cook for 10-15 mins in a 250 degree c oven on oven trays, pizza trays or pizza stones. 

Our favourite toppings:

Hubby's- 'Four Seasons'- passata as the base (or pizza sauce), mozzarella, mushrooms, capsicum, ham and prawns.

Mine- 'Italian supreme'- passata, anchovies, mozzarella, ham, mushrooms, capsicum, olives, fresh basil (this is the one pictured above)

Little one's- 'Cheesy ham'- passata, ham and lots and lots of mozzarella (with some veggies hidden underneath if mum and dad feel it necessary!).