Basic Home-Made Pizza

I'm crazy.

I made pizzas over the weekend. Not just one day, but I made pizzas on both Saturday and Sunday for lunch! Haha... But Max didn't get bored over it. Infact, he really loves it. Oh yes! I serve it in a healthier way. A generous amount of fresh salad.

I'm gonna post both pizza separately.

So, upon request, this is my 1st pizza post. It is a basic home-made pizza recipe here. I think this is the easiest method if you wanna make home-made pizzas from scratch. If you have mixer at home, it is even more stress free :)

As I mentioned earlier, I purchased my Pizza pan last week. I don't intend to use it so soon. Not until September actually. But then, upon Max request on a home-made pizza. Since I'm well equipped at home, I think, I shouldn't reject his request.

  

This is not the 1st time I emphasize that fresh ingredients are really important. You'll will certainly taste the difference. I just popped by the nearest Supermarket and get some fresh white buttons, tomatoes, sausages and cheese. And here I go...

This is not the 1st time I make my own pizza crust. The previous attempt wasn't that fantastic. This time, I just googled the easiest pizza crust recipe that I could get. Although this is not the best pizza crust, but it's decent and workable.

This recipe makes a good 12' Inch (30cm) Pizza, cut into 6 generous slices. It could feed 3 adults easily. The measurement on the original ingredients is ounce and cups, which some basic bakers (especially asian) might have problem converting it just like that. So, I did a slight modification here.

Ingredients
(Recipe source : Quick and Easy Pizza Crust at allrecipes.com)

Pizza Crust

• 8 g Package active dry yeast
• 1 tsp Sugar (Fine or Castor)
• 1 cup (236ml) Warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 1/2 cups (350g) Bread Flour
• 2 tbsp Olive oil - I used Truffle Infused Olive Oil.
• 1 tsp Sea Salt

Pizza Topping (Triple Cheese)

• 1 Fresh Tomato
• 2 Sausages of your choice - I used pork sausage. 
• 5 White button mushroom 
• 1 tbsp Canned tomato paste
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil - I used Truffle Infused Olive Oil.
• Paramesan Cheese
• Mozarella Cheese
• Camembert Cheese (Optional)

Before I proceed to the steps of making this pizzas, this part, you really want to take note here....

According to the original recipe, it quoted "This is a great recipe when you don't want to wait for the dough to rise. You just mix it and allow it to rest for 5 minutes and then it's ready to go!! It yields a soft, chewy crust". Sounds convincing eh? You know what? I followed blindly!!!

Seriously, I never felt so dumb before. I don't know what is wrong with me. I really go and follow exactly what is written there leh! Bread dough only need 5mins proofing? I don't know. Maybe it works on others. But........ This sounds really silly. I wanna stab myself loh!

Anyway, I modified it. So, if you were to follow what I write here, you will be safe. I promise.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 230 degrees C (bottom heat, switch on the fan). In a bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a mixing bowl, add flour, salt, oil and pour in the creamy yeast mixture. Beat until smooth. I used KA Mixer, bread dough hook. Beat about 5mins should be fine.
3. Stick some bread flour on your palm, take the dough out, just give it a quick roll and form the dough into a round shape. Then, oil your palm, and give your dough a roll again. And there, your dough will get a thin layer of oil.
4. Once your dough is oiled, put the dough back to the mixer bowl, let it rest and proof till double the size, or at least 30mins. Your dough is oiled, so, it won't stick to the mixing bowl. It can be removed easily later on.
5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a round shape. Transfer crust to a lightly floured pizza pan.
6. Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
7. Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

See! This is the dough that only proof for 5mins. It looks really dense. I don't like it. The dough looks okay on the picture, but it's really not what I'm looking for. This is not okay for me!!! :(

Ok. Let's move on. No point crying over spilt milk.

For the fillings.... You will have 30mins to prepare while your dough is proofing. I prefer buying Mozarella and Paramesan cheese in block. I felt that they are fresher and better in texture somehow. Although I need to grate the cheese myself. But I think it's fine. Good food need abit of effort here :)

For the topping, spread a layer olive oil, and then, a layer of tomato paste.

This is my favorite part. Hehe...

Add in all the topping and of course, sprinkle a generous amount of Cheeseeeeeeeeeeee....

If you read my list of ingredient again. I actually used 3 types of cheese. Aside the common Mozarella and Paramesan cheese, I added Camembert Cheese on my pizza. However, it is optional.

I love Camembert. It has the unique savory taste that Mozarella and Paramesan cannot give. The texture of Camembert is soft and not easy to handle. What I did is that I throw the Camembert into freezer, to let the cheese set firm, and this is how I can do my cutting, peeling and even grating easier. It prolong the shelf life too.

Incase you don't know where to get it, Cold Storage, Carrefour, The Market Place at Raffles City or NTUC Finest outlet should have. I don't think neighbourhood supermarket (eg. General NTUC, Sheng Siong) carry this. I never seen it before. I got mine from Carrefour. It cost me about S$15.00.

It's done! I sprinkle some parsley flakes on top. Hehe..

Cut them into 6 portion... I don't like the crust. Although it looks good in the picture. But it's dense, chewy and not fluff.

In overall, I'm satisfied with the taste of this basic home made pizza. If I were to proof the dough, I will give this pizza 8/10! No. I don't blame anybody. I just blame myself for being dumb.

But please don't worry. You can follow this recipe. You just make sure that you MUST Proof the dough :) 

Comin' up next... Quadruple Cheese Pizza! Stay tuned!