Pizza Base Recipe

I've made a few pizza bases in my time and I'm not a big fan of them tasting or smelling like yeast once they are cooked.  This recipe is one my sister and her family use and it's very light and quite sticky to work with but it's worth it.  My kids thought my other pizza base recipes are better however I think this one is a winner.  I made one large pizza with this dough and I used bakers flour although the recipe calls for plain flour so you can do either whatever you have on hand.

PIZZA BASE RECIPE

225 gms (One and a half cups) of plain flour (I use bakers flour)

1 Teaspoon of Dried Yeast

1/4 teaspoon of salt

Pinch of sugar

185ml (3/4 cup) of warm water (I use a thermometer and have water 105-110 F {40-43C})

2 teaspoons olive oil

Note:  The warm water I use comes out of the tap however I always use the thermometer so I don't kill my yeast.

METHOD

Preheat oven to 240 degrees Celsius {464 F).

1.  Combine the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a large bowl.

2.  Make a well in the centre and add water and oil.

3.  Use a round bladed knife in a cutting motion to mix until combined.

4.  Use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl.

5.  Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and knead for 5 minutes or until almost smooth.

6.  Place the dough into the bowl and let it sit for 10-15 minutes with a tea towel or cling wrap over the top while you spend some time cutting up some ingredients to go on your pizza.

7.  Place bakers paper/parchment paper on your pizza tray and sprinkle with a little bit of flour.

8.  Tip the dough into the centre of the tray and make sure your fingers have lots of flour on them as this dough is sticky.  Lightly stretch and push the dough towards the outside of the pizza tray with the tips of your fingers to make the shape of your pizza.

9.  Once this is done leave it to rest for 5 mins before placing the ingredients on it.

10.  Spread your pizza sauce onto the base and top with your favourite pizza toppings and bake in the oven until it's the way you like it.

I baked this for 10-12 minutes however I always stand near the oven and watch the pizza as sometimes it can cook really quickly at the end and you don't want the base to burn.  I cooked the pizza in our little gas pizza oven which is awesome.  If you like really thin pizza's you could probably make two pizza's out of this dough.  My brother in law makes it really thin and it's delicious however tonight I just went with the one pizza and it was just right.

Give this a go and let me know what you think.