Takeaway pizza is a popular weekend treat for many of us, and sometimes there’s nothing quite like ordering a large meat feast and enjoying the slices with friends and family. It can also often be too easy to reach for the phone to order a pizza or go to the freezer and grab one from the top shelf, but trying to make your own home made pizza can be an extremely rewarding kitchen experience, and not as labour intensive as you may think.
This pizza recipe is a cheats way to making a pizza as the dough is yeast free and takes very little time to prepare. You can experiment with toppings and flavour combinations that you and your family enjoy, but first, roll up them sleeves and get ready to roll out the pizza dough. We recently purchased a ceramic pizza stone to start making pizzas at home, but this recipe also works with a large frying pan and grill. Below are the steps to making your very own home made pizza.
Ingredients:
For the pizza dough:
- 1 1/2 cups organic self raising flour
- 1/2 cup water (room temperature)
- Pinch salt
- Drizzle of olive oil
- Your own choice of sauce and toppings
This recipe makes 1 large pizza and will take approximately 15 minutes to prepare the dough and other ingredients and 12 – 15 minutes to cook.
1. Make your yeast free pizza dough:
Mix the flour and water together using an electric mixer and dough hooks (if you have them) until combined into a stiff dough. You may need to add a little more flour to make it pliable but can judge this by eye. Once the ingredients have been combined, add the salt and oil and mix one last time.
2. Roll out your pizza base:
Before you start to roll out your dough, put your pizza stone into a pre-heated oven at 180C, or pre-heat a frying pan over a medium heat if you don’t have a pizza stone to cook with. Lightly flour your board and tip out your dough on to the board. Knead the dough lightly for around 1 minute and then begin to roll out the dough using a rolling pin. The dough will be quite elastic when you begin rolling but as you work with the dough to achieve the correct shape and size, the dough will conform. You should roll your dough out to a 1cm thickness, and an area that is no bigger than the pizza stone or frying pan you will be cooking on. You can also divide your dough into two halves if necessary and cook smaller pizzas.
3. Completing your pizza:
Once you have your yeast free pizza base ready, it’s time to start decorating it. Transfer your pizza base to the pizza stone or frying pan and begin to decorate. It’s important to work quickly if you are cooking with a pizza stone to avoid losing any heat from the stone. If you are using a frying pan, keep the pan on the heat when decorating. Start to spoon on your desired sauce, we went for a basil pesto sauce. Once your sauce is added, start to layer the remaining toppings that you have decided to use. For this pizza, we opted for the following ingredients:
- Parma ham
- Baby cherry tomatoes
- Grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese
4. Cook your pizza and enjoy:
Once you have all your ingredients on your pizza, place your stone in the centre of your oven and cook for 12 – 15 minutes. If you are using a frying pan, cook the pizza on the hob for 3 – 4 minutes before transferring the pan to the grill, cooking under a medium heat for approx 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden, and the edges of the pizza have crisped up. Once your pizza is cooked, remove from the oven or grill, and serve. Be careful when handling a warm pizza stone or frying pan, and always read the manufacturers instructions before cooking with a pizza stone.
We opted for a basil pesto, Parma ham, baby tomato and cheese pizza, but here are some equally tasty combos for you to try out.
- Tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni
- BBQ sauce, chicken and sweetcorn
- Tomato sauce, roasted peppers and feta cheese
What is your favourite pizza topping and have you tried making your own pizza dough and pizza from scratch? Let us know by commenting below or sharing your favourite flavours with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Here is a short video from our Instagram page that takes you through the steps of making your very own yeast free pizza. We used a pizza stone in this video, but as mentioned earlier, you can get an equally tasty pizza using a large frying pan.
