It All starts with the dough ….
The trick to a great pizza is in the ingredients. Last time we chatted through some of the more divisive ingredients out there, but today we are taking it to the basics. Pizza dough. If you don’t get the base right, then having the finest ingredients on your pizza can be a total waste.
There are some fine pre-made bases that are available from the supermarket or your local baker, but it’s actually dead easy (and sooooo much fun!) to make your own.
Below we have our favourite recipe for pizza dough that we would love to share with you all.
Basic Pizza Dough
This recipe from Taste.com is as basic as it gets. The below recipe has the right amount of ingredients, but there is a few little things the team at Wheel Pizza do that are different to make this our own.
The below recipe will make 3 20cm pizza bases.
Step 1
Combine the water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes or until foamy. It’s important that your yeast in date, as this step won’t work. This activates the yeast as it starts to eat the sugar. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre (no need to sift!). Add the yeast mixture and oil. This is where the fun starts and you can start to mix the dough with your hand in the bowl (You can always start with a large cooking spoon or similar if it’s too icky for you).
Step 2
Continue to kneed the dough on a lightly floured (and clean!) surface for about 10 minutes. You will see the dough with start to become smooth and elastic. You should be able to press the dough with your finger and see it rise back up slowly. Brush a clean bowl with oil, and place the dough ball into the bowl. Brush some additional oil on top (this helps the dough not stick to the bowl, but also stop a dry film developing on top). Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and place it somewhere warm for 30 minutes.
Step 3 - Bonus step!
When the dough is twice the size, punch it! This will release the build up of gases from the yeast (and it’s very therapeutic to do). Give the dough another quick knead (you can do this while it’s in the bowl, brush with oil and cover again for 30 minutes.
Step 4
Dust work surface with flour. Knead the dough again until smooth and divide the dough into thirds. If you are really smart you can then start to shape each of the bases, by either throwing the dough (more on this another day!) or using a rolling pin.
Now it’s ready for pizza toppings!
Ingredients needed
375ml (1 1/2 cups) warm water
Pinch of caster sugar
2 tsp (7g/1 sachet) dried yeast
600g (4 cups) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp salt
60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil, plus extra for brushing
Once made, these bases only take about 10 minutes to cook in the oven.
Wheel Pizza Hot Tip- Crank the oven to it’s max temperature and use a pizza stone. Preheat the oven while you add your toppings, and leave the stone in the oven to heat up while you do it. When the pizza is ready to go in, slide it on the pizza stone.
Pizza stones are available in any kitchenware shop for around $10-20.