easy yummy homemade pizza

Who doesn't love pizza? You'd have to be pathologically insane not to. Someday, I would love to own a wood burning oven to have that authentic pizza crust taste. In the time being I need to figure out where to buy a pizza stone from. For now, I have the usual stove-oven fixture that seems so un-foodie of me to admit! Gasp. I am a fraud. (And if you haven't already figured, not a real chef.)


Really simple pizza dough (makes 1 pretty-large pizza)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 packet instant yeast *

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

Warm water

*it's a lot of yeast, the recipe was given to me like this but I'm sure you could even use half, or if doubling the recipe, use the same amount of yeast as here.

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, making a little well in the centre. Pour the olive oil and some warm water into the well. Incorporate wet ingredients into the flour making a sticky dough. (Have 350 ml water ready to use but only pour in a little at a time - or you might find your dough is too sticky and in need of more flour.) On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for 5-8 minutes. Cover with a cloth and allow to rise until double in size, about 25 minutes.

In the mean time, grate cheddar and/or parmesan and cut some mozzarella into little chunks. Use a ready-made tomato-based pasta sauce (like Woolworths Arrabiata) or make your own simple sauce for the base. Prepare any toppings you enjoy - cube chicken and toss with garlic, spices and mustard till cooked. Saute mushrooms, onion rings and green peppers then drain well on paper towels. Chop roma tomatoes, feta, fresh basil and olives.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celcius.

Uncover and punch down the dough. Generously drizzle and spread olive oil into a pizza pan or any baking pan. Roll out dough - or pat directly into pan to your desired thickness. Brush olive oil onto the entire top part of the crust, and bake at 220 for 12-15 minutes until browned. If you bake your crust before topping, it won't get soggy and taste doughy in the middle. Then top pizza with tomato-based sauce, sliced vegetables, chicken, cheese, basil and herbs. Bake at 220 for a further 5-8 minutes, till cheese melts. Serve immediately!


I didn't have any mushrooms or black olives this time but those are awesome additions. I usually only prefer vegetarian pizzas but really enjoyed this chicken one, perhaps because the chicken was shredded and scattered, hence not overpoweringly meaty.

I think I'm gonna be making pizza again today.
Yum. I just love this super crispy crust.