Pizza is one of the ultimate comfort foods. It’s great either as a takeaway or in a restaurant, but why not make your own at home? It’s not that complicated or time-consuming to make. You can also choose exactly what toppings you want, be it simple mozzarella and tomato, a meat feast, or a vegetarian’s delight. You can even make a vegan pizza with either vegan cheese or nutritional yeast. In this blog, we’ll tell you how to make the best homemade pizza in easy steps.
Ingredients for the Dough Makes 2 or 4 pizzas depending on how thick you want the crust
½ teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons dried yeast
125 ml warm water
275 gr plain wholemeal flour
Pinch of salt
40 gr butter or margarine
Instructions
1. In a bowl, mix the sugar, dried yeast, and warm water with a fork. Leave for 10 minutes or so until the yeast is frothy.
2. Meanwhile, in another bowl, rub the butter or margarine into the flour and salt.
3. Add the yeast mixture into the flour and mix them with your hands until you get a pliable, but firm dough. You can add a little more flour or water if you feel that the dough isn’t the right consistency.
4. Knead the dough on a floured board for 5 minutes.
5. Put the dough in a clean bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Put this in a warm place until the dough doubles in size. This should take around one hour.
6. When the dough has doubled in size, knead it for five minutes on the floured board. Then divide it into two or four pieces, depending on whether you want a thin or thick crust.
7. Roll each piece of the dough into circles that fit your tins. Oil the tins and place the dough in them.
8. Put the oven on at 200 C (400 F).
9. Make the topping. Choose one that I have listed below or make up one of your own.
10. While you are making the topping, leave the dough to prove for another 15 minutes.
11. Bake the pizzas for 20 minutes until puffed up.
Toppings
Margherita
Margherita pizza is the traditional pizza. It was named after Queen Margherita of Italy and created in 1899 in Naples. Many Italians believe that this is the only way a pizza should be made. It is simply a mozzarella and tomato pizza and here is the recipe.
Ingredients
5 tablespoons passata per pizza
125 gr mozzarella cheese
Basil leaves
Instructions
1. Spread the passata on the pizzas.
2. Thinly slice the mozzarella and put the slices on each pizza.
3. Place 4 basil leaves on each pizza.
4. Drizzle a little olive oil on each pizza and put them in the oven.
Vegetable Pizza
You can choose any vegetable you like to adorn your pizza or a mixture of a few. Here is a recipe for broccoli and bell pepper pizza.
Ingredients
5 tablespoons passata per pizza
125 gr of cheese of your choice
5 small broccoli florets per pizza
Large green or red bell pepper
Instructions
1. Steam the broccoli florets for 5 minutes until they are al dente.
2. De-seed the bell pepper and cut it into strips.
3. Slice a medium onion.
4. Fry the onion and pepper slices in olive oil for 5 minutes.
5. Put the passata on each pizza.
6. Slice the cheese and place it on the pizzas.
7. Arrange the slices of onions and peppers as well as the broccoli florets on the pizzas. Put in the oven.
Meat Lovers Pizza
Ingredients
5 tablespoons passata per pizza
125 gr of cheese of your choice
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
200 gr minced beef
120 gr hot salami
120 gr chorizo sausage
Instructions
1. Get a frying pan and heat a tablespoon of oil. Slice the onions and fry for five minutes with the garlic until they are soft.
2. Add the minced beef and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Put the passata on the pizzas.
4. Spread the minced meat on top of the passata.
5. Layer the cheese on top of the meat.
6. Top with the salami and the chorizo.
7. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 C.
Tex-Mex Pizza
Perhaps you would like something a bit different and a little spicy. Why not try our Tex-Mex pizza? You get two cuisines in one so what can be better? Adjust the seasonings if you want it spicier or not quite as spicy. Our recipe is at a medium spice level.
Ingredients
2 red bell peppers
3 tablespoons of sweetcorn
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 tablespoons passata
1 avocado
A bunch of fresh coriander
Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 200 C and roast the red peppers for 15 minutes.
2. Slice the roasted red peppers into thin strips and put in a bowl. Add the sweetcorn, chilli powder, cumin powder, cayenne pepper, ground coriander, and olive oil. Mix and season with salt and pepper.
3. Put the passata on the pizza dough and then spread over the pepper mixture.
4. Cook at 200 C for 10 minutes.
5. Cut the avocado in half and slice. Take the pizzas out of the oven and top with the avocado and fresh coriander.
The toppings for pizzas are endless. Go wild and have a Supreme pizza which is a meat and vegetable extravaganza with sausage, bacon, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers. If you enjoy seafood, make up your pizza with cooked mussels, scallops, clams, prawns, squid, tuna, or anchovies or all of them if you want to be indulgent. A simpler seafood pizza, but a very popular one, is garlic butter prawns and chilli. Vegetarians can enjoy a 4-cheese pizza and can choose whichever cheeses they want. Alternatively, try a pizza with spinach, cheese and an egg cracked in the middle. Finally, we must mention the controversial Hawaiian pizza which has ham and pineapple. It is no-go with Italians, but many English and Americans love it.
