I have made home made pizza every week since I have been home. Thanks to Karen who made us amazing pizza from scratch while I was in London. Karen used Jamie Olivers Pizza dough recipe and I have to tell you its fool proof I can do it. Plus its amazing!!!
I made sure I was watched over by my baker friend Sarah the first time I made it and the only issue I had was making the well and adding the liquid then stirring so it wouldn't run all over the place i had a few squeals a few leaks appeared. I didn't use a bowl. The second time I made it I did it all by self and did a good job no spillages.
Here is the recipe. I will never buy pizza dough or bases again. Plus this makes about 8 pizzas, so all you have to do is freeze the balls. Pull them out a few hours before you want to use them so they defrost and warm up and you have more pizza. Yum
Jamie Olivers Pizza Dough
Directions
This is a fantastic, reliable, everyday
pizza dough,
which can also be used to make bread. It's best made with Italian Tipo
"00" flour, which is finer ground than normal flour, and it will give
your dough an incredible super-smooth texture. Look for it in Italian
markets and good supermarkets. If using white
bread flour instead, make sure it's a strong one that's high in
gluten,
as this will transform into a lovely, elastic dough, which is what you
want. Mix in some semolina flour for a bit of color and flavor if you
like.
Ingredients
- 7 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00"
flour or 5 cups strong white bread flour or Tipo "00" flour, plus 2 cups
finely ground semolina flour
- 1 level tablespoon fine sea salt
- 2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dried yeast
- 1 tablespoon raw sugar
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
Sift the flours and salt onto a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a large measuring cup, mix the
yeast,
sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then
pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the
sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts
of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of
the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a
smooth, springy dough.
Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the
top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for
about 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.
Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and
knead
it around a bit to push the air out with your hands - this is called
punching down the dough. You can either use it immediately, or keep it,
wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge (or freezer) until required. If
using straightaway, divide the dough up into as many little balls as you
want to make pizzas - this amount of dough is enough to make about six
to eight medium pizzas.
Timing-wise, it's a good idea to roll the pizzas out about 15 to 20
minutes before you want to cook them. Don't roll them out and leave
them hanging around for a few hours, though - if you are working in
advance like this it's better to leave your dough, covered with
plastic wrap,
in the refrigerator. However, if you want to get them rolled out so
there's 1 less thing to do when your guests are round, simply roll the
dough out into rough circles, about 1/4-inch thick, and place them on
slightly larger pieces of olive-oil-rubbed and flour-dusted aluminum
foil. You can then stack the pizzas, cover them with plastic wrap, and
pop them into the refrigerator.