Pizza Dough
Our favourite pizza’s when we lived in Sydney were Arthur’s Pizzas just down the road form our house in Paddington. We’ve never found any as good back home in Auckland, so we’ve had to start making our own. This recipe was recommended by Claudia and is from Delia Smith.
Ingredients
525g plain flour
3 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons easy-blend dried yeast (handily this is one sachet of the Edmonds one)
1.5 teaspoons caster sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Method
Warm the flour slightly in the oven for around 10 minutes then turn the oven off.
Sift the flour, salt, yeast and sugar into a bowl and make a well in the centre. I do this in my Kenwood bowl.
Pour 360ml hand-hot water into the well. Delia says to mix to a dough starting with a wooden spoon and using your hands in the final stages before moving to the bency to knead it for 3 minutes. I just use the dough hook on the mixer and turn it on for 3 or so minutes. It’s done when it develops a sheen and blisters under the surface.
Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put somewhere warm to rise. You could put it back in the warm oven if it’s free or else run the clothesdryer for two minutes and pop it in there. It needs to double in bulk which should be around an hour at room temperature.
Tip the dough back onto a work surface that has been sprinkled with semolina or polenta (this gives it a crispy texture and stops it from sticking. Cut into 5-6 balls and shape each. Pop them under a tea towel until you’re ready for each.
Turn your oven to the maximum heat with the baking tray inside. Roll out your pizza and when you’re ready get the hot tray out and transfer your base. I like to use those pizza tins from K-Mart. Put your toppings on.
Bake the pizza on the highest shelf for 10-12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.