One of my favourite get-togethers with my friends is a PIZZA party. I would make a whole heap of pizza dough and ask everyone to bring the toppings. Let me tell you this is one sure fire way of finding out a friend's strange tastebuds, some come with some unusual choices!
It is so simple yet so delicious you can make it a regular thing!
For the dough the recipe is below but for the toppings..... well that is entirely up to you!
- Prep time:
- 25 mins + rising
- Cook time:
- 10-12 mins
- Makes:
- 4 pizzas
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp dry yeast
- 5 cups high-grade flour, plus extra for kneading
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
Place water and sugar in a large mixing bowl or an electric mixer with a dough hook and stir to dissolve. Sprinkle yeast over the top and allow to stand in a warm place for 10 minutes.
Mix in flour, oil and salt until evenly combined, working to form a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface (use as little flour as possible) or with the dough hook for 5 minutes until smooth and a little sticky. I often throw the dough onto the bench several times to get the gluten working. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (30-40 minutes).
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, roll into a log shape and cut into 4 even pieces. Roll into balls and leave to rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.
For a Tomato Base sauce
2 x cloves of garlic
1 x handful of fresh basil or 1 tsp of dried basil
1 x can of whole tomatoes
Just blitz all your ingredients together and season with salt. With a good sized spoon spread the sauce in a luxurious layer before your toppings.
TIP - If you lay a nice layer of Gibbston Valley Mozzarella under your toppings it will help them from sliding off and also just tastes more cheesy ...yum:)
For the toppings
1 x bucketload of imagination
1 x Gibbston Valley Mozzarella - as much as you can handle!
To Cook
Preheat oven to 240°C and cut baking paper to fit 4 pizza stones or oven trays. Place pizza stones or oven trays in the oven to preheat. Place baking paper on the bench and roll out a ball of dough on top of each to form a rectangle about 35cm x 28cm. Add toppings then slide, still on the baking paper, onto the preheated pizza stones or oven trays. Bake until the base is golden and crispy (10-12 minutes).
