Hello, pizza lovers!
I've been craving pizza for some time now - I have no idea how time passed and I didn't have any! So just ordering or getting some take away wouldn't do it; I had to make some! You know, DeLizcacy seal of ap-prove-al...
The dough is fluffy and filling, so you need to make sure you allow it to prove itself!
To make it easier for those of you who don't use kitchen scales, I will be using a mug! Simple as that.
For the dough:
2/3 of a mug lukewarm* milk
2 mugs plain flour or bread flour (even better)
1 sachet (about 7 gr) dry yeast
2 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
*Milk needs to be lukewarm, like I have stressed in other recipes (see Easy Pita Bread and Tsoureki recipes), so that kneading is easy and first of all, so that the yeast can activate easily.
Take the milk, which you have heated for a few seconds (no more than half a minute), add a tablespoon of sugar and then empty the sachet into the milk. Leave aside for about 5-10 minutes until activated and a bit foamy and bubbly on top. Stir if you knead. Yeast will feed on the sugar and form nice little bubbles. Sweet! (Latte-rally...)
Measure two mugs of flour and add them in a bowl together with a pinch of salt (as always, herbs, if you like...)
Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil before you add the milk and start bringing the mixture together. It is quite sticky and you can add a bit of flour still, but make sure you doughnot overdo it. We want that stickiness to stay with the dough for proving time! This dough might seem stuck, but it will prove itself soon...
You knead to knead for about 10 minutes so that the dough softens a bit and is nicely prepped for proving.
Oil the bottom of your bowl and allow to rest for at yeast an hour.
Cover with cling film and a couple of towels to keep it warm and ideally find a warm, cosy place to leave it. Optional: hold it in your arms and watch your favourite series together. That should make the dough feel cosy enough and it will proudly rise.
(My dough's favourite is Bunman: the Dark Knead...)
Here you can see the before and after difference that good proving makes!
When the dough is ready, gently let the air out and place it straight onto a greased tin. This dough is so fluffy and easy to work with that you won't need to work on a surface - you can just start rolling it with your hands straight onto the tin and you'll be doughne in less than 5 minutes.
Toppings: whatever you like! I'm not a big fan of pineapple pizza (although I won't say no!) so I kept it simple. Tomato paste, mushrooms, peppers, mature cheddar, immature tomatoes. Herbs: garlic granules, bit more salt on the tomatoes if you like, and of course oregano.
Before going into the oven!
Not a big fan of cheddar? I'll admit it's not the best option to top a TOP pizza dough like this one, but this time was all about trying out an amazing dough recipe. Next time, I'll go for a combination of different types and one of them will definitely be mozzarella!
Pop in the oven for about 30 minutes at 180°C and find something distracting to dough while the house floods with deliziously sizzling melting cheddar. Enjoy!