Homemade Pizza Base
Create delicious homemade pizza dough easy with this recipe. Using simple ingredients, you'll achieve a perfect crust that's ideal for your favourite toppings, ready in as little as 1 hour!
Ingredients
- 1 kg bread flour
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 14 g dried active yeast
- 1 tbsp golden caster sugar
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 650 ml water
Instructions
- Pour the flour and salt on to a clean work surface and make a hole in the middle.
- Pour the yeast, sugar, oil and water into the middle of the flour and mix until the wet ingredients are well combined in the center then leave for a few minutes.
- With a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the wet ingredients. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.
- Place the ball of dough in a large bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm/room temp space for 1-5 hours until the dough has doubled in size (the longer you leave it the stronger/stretchier the dough will be).
- Remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands – this is called knocking back the dough.
- Now you can divide the dough up into as many balls as you want to make pizzas – this amount of dough is enough to make 8 large (roughly 11") pizzas.
- From here, place the divided dough balls into a tray and cover with either a damp cloth or cling film. Once they have been refrigerated for 1 hour, you can either use them immediately, keep it in the fridge (up to 24hrs) or freezer (1 month) until required.
- Keep your dough balls in the fridge until you're ready to roll out and cook them. Don’t roll them out and leave them hanging around for a few hours – when I'm cooking multiple pizzas for guests I tend to have my dough balls laid out on a tray in the fridge with a damp cloth over the top from which i can grab each one as I need.
Notes
LETS TALK TOPPINGS:
My go-to combo is a mix of sweet and savory. Drizzle some honey for sweetness, add creamy goats cheese, fresh basil for a herby kick, throw on some pepperoni for a bit of spice, and finish with a generous sprinkle of Parmesan. It's a flavor explosion that never disappoints.
TIPS:
- Get the Oven Ready: Make sure your pizza oven is good and hot for that crispy crust.
- Spread Evenly: Distribute your toppings evenly to ensure each slice is a taste sensation.
- Patience Pays Off: Let the dough rise properly; the result is a light, airy texture.