Whenever I’m delegated the role of home chef, my first instinct is to make pizza. Despite the hassle of preparing all the toppings, it’s become such a common thing that I’ve never thought to photograph it before now! Anyway, in trying to up our game we recently tried cooking it on our barbecue and it works a charm (who would’ve thought?). With the help of a pizza stone you can get a crispy base that can’t be replicated in the oven, but never fear! It still tastes good if you don’t have one handy. The following pizza base recipe was inspired by Smitten Kitchen, although I did take some liberty with the method…
| Makes one pizza: 1 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp salt 3/4 tsp active dry yeast 1/2 cup lukewarm water 1 tbs olive oil Toppings of choice |
1. Place the lukewarm water and dry yeast in a bowl, and let sit for five minutes. 2. Stir the dry ingredients in a large bowl with the yeast mixture and olive oil, then mix until well incorporated. Dump onto a floured surface and knead the mixture until it comes together into a ball. 3. Lightly oil the bowl with cooking spray, place the dough in there and cover with cling wrap for 1-2 hours. It should double in size. 4. Gently press the air out of the dough, and divide if you’re making more than one pizza. 5a. If using an oven, preheat at 180°C for 15 minutes. Roll out your dough on a baking sheet, and add your toppings of choice. Bake for 15-20 minutes. 5b. If using a barbecue, let your pizza stone heat up with the barbecue for 15 minutes on medium. Roll out your dough on either aluminium foil or a metal tray, and add your toppings. Place on the pizza stone in the barbecue and cook for 15-20 minutes. |
The result? A really good pizza, except with the sweet satisfaction of it being homemade! It’s not like I even used to order pizza a lot, but since learning this recipe I’ve been having it a little too often and obsess a bit over all the toppings I want to try. For one, I’ve always wanted to make breakfast pizza complete with sunny-side up eggs, since I’m a fiend for them and two of my favourite things in one can do no wrong. So, what are your pizza toppings of choice? I’d love to hear and try them for myself!
