Friday 31 July 2015

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza!




Recently, i've been Pizza obsessed! 
I've made my own before, and since its so so easy, I thought i'd give it another go and share my tips and tricks with you.
The first, most important thing about pizza is the base. Without a good base, your pizza isn't going to turn out how you imagine (trust me, i've failed more times than i've succeeded!). 
The pizza recipe i'm going to share with you works best as a thin and crispy New York style pizza, it bakes nice and crispy underneath too... so no soggy bottoms!

Just a warning...
 this pizza dough needs 24 hours rest in the fridge,
 so if you're looking for something for todays dinner, this wont be for you.

For the Pizza base, you will need:

  • 600 g of strong white flour.
  • 1x7g packet of instant yeast
  • 350ml of warm water
  • a pinch of salt 
  • a sprinkle of sugar

(I used my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment to make my dough, if you have one of these, great! If not, get ready for a workout!)

Method:

Add the flour into the bowl 



Add the Yeast to the warm water and stir

Gradually pour the yeasty water into the dough and either stir with your hands, or mix on a slow speed


Once the mixture comes together into a dough kneed on a medium speed (or with your hands) for 10 minutes. The dough should become almost silky and elastic like.


Take the dough out of the mixer and form as many balls as you want pizzas and tuck the sides of the balls underneath to form a smooth top.

Dust balls of dough in flour and place on a floured plate and cover with an excess of cling film to allow the dough enough room to rise.

Place in the fridge for 24 hours

The next day, take your dough out of the fridge and turn out onto a floured surface.

Press along the perimeter using your fingers to form a crust

Turn your dough over and start to stretch it out.
Use these videos to help

Now it's time to channel your inner Italian... It's time to toss the dough!
You can learn the art here


Once you've got your pizza base sorted, it's time for the best bit!

TOPPINGS!!!

I made 3 pizzas from this recipe:

Breakfast Pizza
Chicken & Nacho Pizza
Garlic Bread Pizza

I'll run through each step by step .

Breakfast Pizza:


Toppings include:
  • Tomato pizza sauce
  • Baked Beans
  • Sausage (Pre-cooked and sliced)
  • Cheese

First, preheat your oven to 180 degrees with a pizza stone (or upturned baking tray) in it.

Then, you're going to need to spread your pizza sauce onto your base. 

Your sauce can be made at home by simmering some tinned chopped tomatoes with some garlic, Italian spice mix & oregano (along with salt and pepper).

Now add the beans


Then the sausage


Finally, grate the cheese over the pizza


Bake on greaseproof paper ontop of your pizza stone or upturned baking tray for around 17 minutes.

Baking it in this peculiar manner ensures you get that perfect crispy base.


And there you have it! 
If you like you can crack an egg in the centre of the pizza around 6 minutes before you take it out of the oven. Why not add some black pudding whilst you're at it to make a fun new twist on the full English breakfast!

Chicken & Nacho Pizza:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees with a pizza stone (or upturned baking tray) in it. 

Toppings Include:


  • Pizza Sauce
  • Precooked chicken (Sliced)
  • Your favourite nachos (Crushed)
Spread your pizza sauce onto your pizza
(Just like before)

Grate cheese over the pizza base as you would for any other pizza. 
see previous pictures if you're unsure)

Next, sprinkle your crushed nachos (I used Cool Original Doritos) around the outer crust. Making sure it falls on top of the pizza sauce so it sticks.

To this, add your precooked chicken. I used Chicken Nuggets, but you can use chicken breast or whatever you feel like... go wherever the wind takes you.

Sprinkle some more nachos over the top of your pizza, as many or as few as you like.

Bake on an upturned baking tray or pizza stone for 17-20 minutes



Garlic Bread Pizza:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees with a pizza stone (or upturned baking tray) in it.

Ingredients Include:

  • Garlic Butter
  • Cheese
Spread garlic butter on your pizza base like it was pizza sauce

(To make garlic butter i mixed butter and pre-chopped garlic, it's really that simple!)

Then grate your cheese over the top.

  
Bake on greaseproof paper on an upturned baking tray or on a pizza stone for 17-20 minutes.


There you go!
My 3 easy pizza recipes which are sure to amaze whoever gets the pleasure of eating them.

Happy Pizza Eating!

Lia 
xoxox

p.s. If you try any of these recipes, please use the hashtag 'lialikestobake' & tag me in the comments

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