Basic Pizza Dough

What better to do with your free time than make somepizza? Make one to share or start an assembly line with the family and get those pizzas rolling.

To get that nice base, you’ll need a pizza stone to brown the base evenly. We sell them in store for $20 or if you’ve already got one, you’re one step ahead already. Otherwise, to make the dough without a pizza stone you’ll need to prebake your dough before putting on your toppings. You can do this by greasing a pan and cooking on the bottom shelf of your oven for 5 minutes, then put on your toppings before returning the pizza to the oven for around 15 – 20 minutes.

Now you’ve got the base, what pizza are you going to make? Well here is a recipe for a little inspiration just to get you going.

Basic Pizza Dough

This recipe is very easy, use your hands or a stand mixer. It'll be messy, fun and tasty! Get the whole family together and let them enjoy themselves while enjoying the benefits of pizza night! Now all you need to do is start.

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Equipment

• Pizza Stone
• Pizza Slicer

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup (230 g) warm water 38° to 43°
• 1 tbsp (20 g) dry yeast
• 1 tbsp (20 g) sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups (500 g) plain flour
• 1 tsp (5 g) salt
• Semolina or Polenta for beneath the dough

Instructions

 

• Place the pizza stone into a cold oven and then preheat oven to 230 degrees celcius.
• Put warm water into a large mixing bowl (or bowl of your stand mixer), add sugar and yeast. Then stir to combine. Let the mixture sit until the yeast has become frothy and bubbles form. Add olive oil and gently stir to combine.
• Add 2 cups of flour and salt, mix until a ball begins to form (the dough will be slightly sticky). Add more flour as needed to form a dough ball.
• Transfer to a floured surface and knead into a smooth dough, adding flour as needed. Note that too much will dry out the dough.
• Cover the bowl and leave the dough to prove for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
• Punch down the dough and transfer it to a clean bench or board. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 pieces depending on the size you'd prefer. On a floured bench roll the dough into the desired shape.
• Top with base with your favourite pizza sauce and add your favourite toppings, being mindful that the more topping you put on top, the heavier the pizza will get. Sometimes less is more!
• Sprinkle some semolina or polenta onto the pizza stone. It's hot so try not to burn yourself. Delicately place your pizza onto the pizza stone if possible, a paddle or some semolina on top of baking paper would work to apply the pizza to the stone.
• Bake the pizza until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned. This should take 10 - 20 minutes depending on how hot your oven and stone.

Notes

Everyone enjoys their pizza differently, for those that hate bubbles you should prick the dough and any bubbles that form. Otherwise, let the bubbles roam!