Pizza

Classic Italian pizza with thin or thick crust will be ready in 1 hour. This duration reminds of waiting for pizza delivery, don’t it? Anyway your homemade pizza will be tastier than any frozen pizza and than most of delivery pizzas too. The key to success is to select the right filling. I will offer you my version, but remember that you are free to create.

Usually I make 3 pizzas at once – I think it’s the optimal way, when you need to knead the dough. You can bake all 3 one by one, or you can freeze unbaked excess pizzas.

Dough (~3 pizzas of baking tray size):

• 550 g of all purpose four
• 2 tsp of dry yeast
• 2 tsp of sugar
• 1,5 tsp of salt
• 375 ml of warm water (36-40°C)
• 1,5 tbsp of flavorless oil

Possible variation of filling (~3 pizzas):

• 60 g of onion
• 100 g of champignons
• 350 g of ham
• 150 g of salami or bacon
• 230 g of cheese (Edam, Gouda etc)
• 220 g of mozzarella cheese
• 250 g of high-quality tomato paste or tomato sauce according to this recipe
• 2 tbsp of oregano

Hawaiian pizza filling (~1 pizza):

• 150 g of pineapple (canned)
• 50 g of salami or pepperoni
• 100 g of chicken breast (boiled, baked or fried)
• 30 g of onion
• 2 tbsp of barbecue sauce
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste
• 75 g of cheese (Edam, Gouda etc)
• 75 g of mozzarella

Instructions

1. If you cook pizza with tomato sauce, then start with cooking sauce.

2. Check your package of yeast – there is written, whether you should add yeast to flour or to water (in this case yeast needs 10-15 min. to dissolve).

3. Add all dough ingredients to a bowl and knead the dough. I do it with 2 spoons, because the dough is sticky.

4. Cover the bowl and leave it for:

• 30 min., if you like thin crust
• 60 min., if you want thick crust

5. While pizza dough is rising, prepare filling ingredients: slice, dice, grate etc.

6. After 30 min. divide the dough in 3 parts. Sprinkle some flour on working surface, put 1/3 of dough.

The rest 2/3 of dough put into a fridge (otherwise the dough will continue rising and you’ll get thick crust instead of thin).

7. Preheat oven, 220°C, convection mode, if you have it. Meanwhile spread some flour over the dough and make it flat with fingers:

Move flatbread to a sheet of parchment paper and continue flattening with pressing movements of your fingertips (sprinkle more flour, if it is needed). The crust should be of baking tray size. I don’t recommend using rolling pin – dough sticks to rolling pin and tears it apart. Fingers are perfect to do this job.

8. Now spread tomato sauce/paste over the dough and top it with filling. Champignons and onion rings should be on the top of pizza. Sprinkle oregano over pizza.

9. Bake pizza 12-15 min. While the first pizza is in oven, start to make the second.

It’s a good idea to leave freshly baked pizza to rest on a rack.

Freezing homemade pizza

If I start cooking, I prefer to cook a big amount at once. But when it comes to pizza, well, I’m sure, you know that nothing can compared to freshly baked pizza. That’s why I want to share with you my way of freezing pizza.

I take a big plastic bag and cut it in order to make a wide rectangle. Then I take a cutting board or take a drawer out of freezer. I place plastic rectangle on it and when it comes to Step 7, I put dough on plastic and shape flatbread there. I top it with everything listed before, and when the pizza is ready to be baked/frozen, I fold plastic and seal the edges with adhesive tape. Now you should put pizza in a freezer.

How to bake frozen pizza?

At first one needs to defrost it. Take frozen homemade pizza out of the plastic bag and place on baking tray covered with parchment paper. Cover pizza with remains of plastic bag to prevent it from drying out. And leave it for 1-1,5 hours at room temperature.

Bake it like in Step 9, but keep in mind that defrosted pizza may require several minutes more.