Pizza is the perfect comfort food to eat on the couch watching Netflix but just as perfect for a lovely Italian night with friends and a glass of wine. This recipe is what I turn to whenever I make homemade pizza. Lately I’ve started making my pizzas vegetarian and I like them even better than the usual meat heavy versions. You can of course top your pizzas with whatever your heart desires but here are two of my favorites.
I have always found it hard to get the pizza base right – I don’t have a stone oven, wood oven or even a pizza stone as many recipes suggest. I found the recipe for this base on a package of pizza wheat flour and it turned out perfect even in my ‘non-fancy’ oven.
Pizza base
INGREDIENTS
Makes: 2 large pizzas
3 dl lukewarm water
25 g of fresh yeast
2 tsp salt
½ dl olive oil
500 g wheat flour (or pizza flour)
Toppings (see suggestions below)
METHOD
Pour the water into a large mixing bowl
Crumble the yeast into the water with the salt and stir until dissolved
Add the olive oil
Stir in the flour a bit at a time
When you can’t stir in more flour the transfer the dough to a clean flour-dusted table and knead the rest of the flour into the dough.
Keep kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic
Cover the dough with a cloth and leave it to rise for an hour (in this time you can make the pizza sauce)
After an hour turn the oven to 220°Celcius (leave the baking sheets in the oven so that they’re warm when you add the pizzas)
Separate the dough in two (or more if you want to make smaller pizzas) and simply roll out the dough
Take the warm baking sheets out of the oven, cover with baking paper, and transfer the pizza bases to the sheets.
Add on your desired toppings (see the suggestions below) and bake for about 10 minutes. You want the crust to be crisp and slightly golden and the middle to be baked through as well.
Tomato sauce
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 red onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp. tomato puree (a 140 g can)
1 can of tomatoes (400 g)
½ tsp. chili flakes
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. dried basil
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tbsp. honey
Salt and pepper to taste
METHOD
Chop the onion and press the garlic
Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil in a saucepan at medium heat
When the onions are soft and golden add the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer at low heat for at least 15 minutes
Season with salt and pepper
If you want a smooth sauce you can now blend the sauce with a hand blender
Tip: Save left over tomato sauce for a delicious pasta sauce
Red pizza
TOPPINGS
Tomato sauce (see recipe above)
Sliced tomato
Slices of red bell pepper
Mozarella slices
Fresh basil (add after you've baked the pizza)
Green pizza
TOPPINGS
Pesto
Thinly sliced potatoes
Feta cheese
Fresh basil (add after you've baked the pizza)