Pizza

Step 1

First, weigh out and mix together all the ‘dough’ ingredients using a wooden spoon. It should form a rough but sticky dough – once all the flour is mixed in, cover it with a sheet of cling film. Leave it to rest for about half an hour. 

Step 2

Once rested, fold the dough over inside the bowl until you’ve forced all the air out of it – this means you don’t need to knead. Re-cover with cling film and leave for another half hour to an hour. Whilst it’s resting, place your heaviest baking tray (or a baking stone if you have one) in the oven and preheat it to as high as it goes (about 240-250C) 

Step 3

When you are ready to bake, cut your proved dough into two equal pieces. Flatten then roll each out to as thin or as thick as you like – I like mine as thin as possible. Place the base on a well floured chopping board and spread a few tablespoons of passata on top. Drain the mozzarella and add it along with any other toppings you like on top. 

Step 4

Finally, slide from your chopping board onto your hot baking surface in the oven. Bake until dark and the middle is crisp; anything from 5 minutes to 15 minutes depending on how you like it and how deep-pan your pizza is. Decorate with any fresh toppings to your taste. 

Top Tip: 

I love to make this dough in a big batch – double or even quadruple the quantities, then once it is fully proved, split into pizza-sized portions and freeze. They’ll defrost very quickly when you need them and can be rolled out and used straight away! 

Enjoy!