I usually get stuck in to most of my tech oriented stuff midweek and i like to rest my brain at the weekend, that's where i get the opportunity to make and to write about food, so i thought i'd make some PIZZA, pizza is such a wonderful food, both to make and to eat and there are many websites that help you to make awesome pizza with step by step instructions along the way, one such site is: onionz.uk this site has a calculator where you can select the type, size and quantity of pizza's required and it calculates everything for you, it even gives you a rough idea of the amount of cheese and sauce, cool or what?
This recipe makes roughly 4 x 12 inch medium crust pizza's, if you want to make other sizes or types of pizza then check out onionz.uk , go to the calculator page of your choice and follow the instructions, it couldn't be easier.
Total Dough = 1420g -- Dough weights are approximate
Strong White Bread Flour = 780g
Slightly Warm Water = 550ml
Cooking Salt = 15g
Dried Easy-Bake Yeast = 8g
White Sugar = 8g
Olive Oil = 25ml
Recommended Mix by: Stand Mixer or Food Processor or by Hand, but i'm using a food processor for this recipe!
Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in bowl of food processor. Pulse 3 to 4 times until incorporated. Add olive oil and water. Run food processor until mixture forms ball that rides around the bowl above the blade, about 15 seconds. Continue processing 15 seconds longer.
Transfer dough ball to lightly floured surface and knead once or twice by hand until smooth ball is formed. Your dough should be able to stretch very thinly and it should be translucent when stretched and held up to the light - this is known as the Window Pane Test. Divide dough into equal parts and place them in a covered Tupperware type container or in a zip-lock freezer bag which has a little olive oil inside to stop them sticking. Place in refrigerator and allow to rise at for least 2 hours, (although you could leave the dough in the fridge for a few days if you wanted to). Remove from refrigerator, shape into balls and cover with a damp cloth and allow to rest at room temperature for at least 2 hours before baking.
When ready to start baking, lightly oil your tins, then shape each dough-ball into the required pizza shape and place into tins -
TIP: let the dough rest for a few minutes after rolling or shaping, this allows the dough to relax making it easier to handle and mold into the final shape in the tin or on the baking surface.
For the Cheese i used Ready Grated Mozzarella and Mild Cheddar 70/30 mix
For the Sauce i used:
1 can of San Marzano Tomatos mashed with a fork and pushed through a sieve or leave roughly chopped or mashed, a generous pinch of Sea Salt, Black Pepper and White Sugar mixed with some freshly chopped or torn Basil and thats it.
The toppings you put on it is up to you, i used the following:
Chicken Frankfurters
Chicken Sausage
Peri-Peri Chicken
Chinese Chicken
Onions
Sweetcorn
Bit of a Chicken theme then...
To bake your pizza just put it in a very hot oven and bake, although for the best result use a Wood-fired Pizza Oven, these can reach seriously high temperatures and can bake a pizza in 90 seconds, however most folk don't own one of these, you could use a Pizza Stone or Pizza Iron, i sometimes use a Cast Iron Tawa which i use for making Roti, it also makes great pizza too, i pre-heat my grill, i place the Tawa on a high gas flame, i put my freshly molded dough onto it, and i very quickly start adding the sauce, cheese and any toppings, by the time i have done that the pizza is sufficiently crispy on the bottom and it then goes straiight under the grill about 8 inches from the pizza until it is done then remove from the oven, cut and enjoy...
I Hope you like my post and my pizza
