My first homemade pizza
=Ingredients to make pizza base=
2 cups bread flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp instant yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tbs milk powder, optional
=Ingredients to make pizza filling=
Whatever you like - chicken, beef, prawn
capsicums
pineapple
onion
(stir fry everything above first)
mozarella
Method
1. Add sugar into 3/4 cup warm water and mix until dissolved. Sprinkle yeast over it and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until it foams and bubbles.
2. If you knead the dough by hands, sieve the flour, milk powder and salt onto a clean surface. Make a well in the middle. Pour yeast mixture and oil into the well. Start from the middle to mix the flour into the liquid. Knead with clean hands until you get a smooth and springy dough. ( Christine used a bread maker to mix all ingredients until dough is foam.)
3. Form the dough into a ball. You can get your dough fermented in any one of the following ways:
(Method A) If you want a soft-bread-like pizza base, cover the dough with a damp cloth and put in a warm room for about an hour, until the dough has doubled in size.
(Method B) If you like a crispy pizza crust. Place in a greased bowl and coat with a bit of olive oil on top. Cover the bowl tightly with a cling wrap and store in the fridge at least 24 hours, until the size is double. Then it’s ready for you to make pizza. (Note: Christine placed the dough in the fridge over 1 day. It can keep for a few days.)
4. Preheat oven to 200C (395F). Remove the dough from fridge (if you use method A, in step 3 above). If you use method B, the dough is ready to be used when it’s doubled in size.
5. Punch the dough down with your hands and deflates the air out. Divide the dough into two parts (or as many little balls you like, if you’d like to make mini pizzas). Shape each part into a ball shape. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 15 minutes. (Note: if you don’t prepare to use the dough to make pizza right away, you can wrap it in a cling film and put in the fridge until you need it.)
6. Roll the dough out into a round disc, about 0.5cm in thickness. Place them on a slightly larger pizza pan (sheet pan), drizzled with olive oil. Place Mozzarella cheese sticks around the edge. Along the inner side of cheese sticks, damp the dough with some water, fold the outer edge inside as picture shown. (Note: be sure not to let any oil touch the surface of dough at this stage, the edge can't be sealed easily otherwise.) Prick the surface of dough with a fork.
7. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the dough surface and spread evenly to avoid your dough from being soggy.
8. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of extra BBQ sauce on the dough and spread it evenly. Sprinkle on 1/3 of cheese, then diced chicken, red onion, mushrooms. Sprinkle the rest of cheese on top.
9. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the base is golden brown, cheese melts, and toppings are bubbly.
