Discussion
I have promised to make pizzas from scratch with my 6 year old boy this weekend and would like any pointers for good (foolproof) recipes.
I've done the search function on here and trawled the internet. Jamie Olivers looks good with the 00 flour but anybody got any other thoughts?
Thanks.
I've done the search function on here and trawled the internet. Jamie Olivers looks good with the 00 flour but anybody got any other thoughts?
Thanks.
We make one every Saturday night.....
280g of plain flower
Pinch of salt
Slug of olive oil
Mix in a bowl & make a well in the middle. Add the contents of a small packet of dry yeast (60p for 2 packets at any supermarket).
Ten add warm water slowly while mixing with a wooden spoon until it clogs together. Then start needing for 5 mins, the consistency you want I liken to a well chewed lump of Hubba Bubba! Either add moisture or flour to get this consistency, as long as it isn't sticking to your hands it's dry enough.
Then leave it on the work top for a minimum of 45 mins under the bowl you mixed it in.
Once done need it again for a few minutes-if it's too soggy just add a bit more flour. Then either roll it out or toss it into shape, place on a hot pizza stone covered in flour.
Add your sauce & toppings & bang in the oven for around 10 mins at 225 degrees or until crusts are golden brown.
You ok for sauce & topping recipes?
280g of plain flower
Pinch of salt
Slug of olive oil
Mix in a bowl & make a well in the middle. Add the contents of a small packet of dry yeast (60p for 2 packets at any supermarket).
Ten add warm water slowly while mixing with a wooden spoon until it clogs together. Then start needing for 5 mins, the consistency you want I liken to a well chewed lump of Hubba Bubba! Either add moisture or flour to get this consistency, as long as it isn't sticking to your hands it's dry enough.
Then leave it on the work top for a minimum of 45 mins under the bowl you mixed it in.
Once done need it again for a few minutes-if it's too soggy just add a bit more flour. Then either roll it out or toss it into shape, place on a hot pizza stone covered in flour.
Add your sauce & toppings & bang in the oven for around 10 mins at 225 degrees or until crusts are golden brown.
You ok for sauce & topping recipes?
Edited by LaurasOtherHalf on Thursday 25th April 22:00
Few other tips from our exhaustive testing 
1 we've tried many different sauce mixtures but we keep going back to the easiest- morrisons "the best" Italian chopped tomatoes & herbs. The one in the little green carton-on offer at the moment too. You don't need to do anything other than add it to the pan & simmer it down to a thick gloop.
2 roll/toss your dough to a size about 4 inch bigger than your stone, then roll it back to make a nice crust-laura likes a garlic dip to dunk these in. If you're feeling frisky stuffed crust is simple to do as well
3 the cheapest ready grated mozzarella is the best for your cheese. Buy expensive mozzarella & it's a ball ache to grate-the supermarkets do ready grated for what I can see as the sole reason to ever buy ready grated cheese. Cheddar just goes oily so don't bother
4 if you like a meat feast we find a simple cheap tapas selection from the supermarket makes a lovely topping-I prefer more Parma ham than the others though as it can be a bit salty otherwise.
5 chuck a handful of rocket on to wilt for the last couple of minutes to give it a peppery edge.
My favourite topping:
Ready grated mozzarella
Half a chopped onion
2 thinly sliced mushrooms
Sprinkling of ready mixed Italian herbs
Bit of rocket on at the end
Remember not to wash your pizza stone-they get better with age (& stick less)!
If you don't have a pizza stone a couple of spare bathroom tiles upside down will do
1 we've tried many different sauce mixtures but we keep going back to the easiest- morrisons "the best" Italian chopped tomatoes & herbs. The one in the little green carton-on offer at the moment too. You don't need to do anything other than add it to the pan & simmer it down to a thick gloop.
2 roll/toss your dough to a size about 4 inch bigger than your stone, then roll it back to make a nice crust-laura likes a garlic dip to dunk these in. If you're feeling frisky stuffed crust is simple to do as well
3 the cheapest ready grated mozzarella is the best for your cheese. Buy expensive mozzarella & it's a ball ache to grate-the supermarkets do ready grated for what I can see as the sole reason to ever buy ready grated cheese. Cheddar just goes oily so don't bother
4 if you like a meat feast we find a simple cheap tapas selection from the supermarket makes a lovely topping-I prefer more Parma ham than the others though as it can be a bit salty otherwise.
5 chuck a handful of rocket on to wilt for the last couple of minutes to give it a peppery edge.
My favourite topping:
Ready grated mozzarella
Half a chopped onion
2 thinly sliced mushrooms
Sprinkling of ready mixed Italian herbs
Bit of rocket on at the end
Remember not to wash your pizza stone-they get better with age (& stick less)!
If you don't have a pizza stone a couple of spare bathroom tiles upside down will do
GBDG said:
LaurasOtherHalf said:
We make one every Saturday night.....
280g of plain flower
Pinch of salt
Slug of olive oil
Do I weigh the slug and then put the same amount in? 280g of plain flower
Pinch of salt
Slug of olive oil
It's easy to mix it up & either go too wet or too dry so in any case your measurements will probably change.
There's plenty of tutorials on how to toss on YouTube ( be careful what you search for!) & you get a feeling of how loose it needs to be by chucking it-to dry & it won't turn into a circle but to begin with just make it like chewing gum
LaurasOtherHalf said:
It's a real rough measurement-I weigh the flour only as a starting point then just chuck the rest in. The olive oil is really just to colour it what you want to concentrate is making a nice, needed blob of hubba bubba textured dough!
It's easy to mix it up & either go too wet or too dry so in any case your measurements will probably change.
There's plenty of tutorials on how to toss on YouTube ( be careful what you search for!) & you get a feeling of how loose it needs to be by chucking it-to dry & it won't turn into a circle but to begin with just make it like chewing gum
Ok mate, i've set up a few slug traps in the garden. Once i've caught one i'll be all set. It's easy to mix it up & either go too wet or too dry so in any case your measurements will probably change.
There's plenty of tutorials on how to toss on YouTube ( be careful what you search for!) & you get a feeling of how loose it needs to be by chucking it-to dry & it won't turn into a circle but to begin with just make it like chewing gum
15peter20 said:
Just a word of advice - used a JO recipe for dough before and it called for too much liquid so the dough ended up v sticky. Making homemade pizzas was fun but to be honest I think we all worked out why so many people order in!
Just add the water a little at a time-once you've made your own well you'll never order in again-we even get a bit picky at Italian restaurants now!Obviously we use the same recipe for garlic breads as well-they cook quicker (more like 5 mins) & wipe on a mixture of butter & crushed garlic once cooked.
Also if you add warm milk instead of water & a teaspoon of baking powder you've got the dough for naan breads. We leave that to prove over night if possible then roll it flat, put some sweetened coconut & raisins in & fold over, hey presto-pashwari naan bread
Oscarmac said:
Really grateful. I will try to take some pics to show how it turns out. Thank you
Good man-I'm sure the boy will love it. Flour gets everywhere & at the end they get to eat junk food whilst you know there's no rubbish in it & everyone's a winner.By the way, the pizza recipe above does me & the other half so that's for two hungry adults.
Look forward to the update
Incidentally, if anyone's thinking that making pizza dough is a faff compared with Just Dialing Dominos, make a big batch and freeze it in pizza-size portions.
Meanwhile, my recently discovered tip for home made Pizza Express style garlic bread:
Crush a clove of garlic (take the shoot out), and simmer briefly together with a good lump of butter in a cup in the microwave. Season well.
Roll out a satsuma-sized piece of dough into a slipper shape, drizzle with the garlic butter and cook in a hot oven for 8 - 10 minutes.
Noms.
Meanwhile, my recently discovered tip for home made Pizza Express style garlic bread:
Crush a clove of garlic (take the shoot out), and simmer briefly together with a good lump of butter in a cup in the microwave. Season well.
Roll out a satsuma-sized piece of dough into a slipper shape, drizzle with the garlic butter and cook in a hot oven for 8 - 10 minutes.
Noms.
We cheat when it comes to making pizza and get the dough from a local pizza restaurant......that my family own.
But, here is the best advise I got off PH. Make the pizza on the BBG/Grill. If done properly it tastes fantastic to the point that we considered including it at the restaurant. The BBQ can get to the temperatures that you oven can't and it's good fun for the kids if the weather is nice
But, here is the best advise I got off PH. Make the pizza on the BBG/Grill. If done properly it tastes fantastic to the point that we considered including it at the restaurant. The BBQ can get to the temperatures that you oven can't and it's good fun for the kids if the weather is nice
I planned on using the BBQ precisely for the temperature reason. Was worried that the base might crisp/cook before the topping was done.
I'm guessing the thing to do is not go overboard on the toppings so they get a chance to cook properly.
Pizza paddle arrived in the post today and stone yesterday so we are committed to more than one go at this I think!!
I'm guessing the thing to do is not go overboard on the toppings so they get a chance to cook properly.
Pizza paddle arrived in the post today and stone yesterday so we are committed to more than one go at this I think!!
Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff