Pizza!
I haven’t done any sweet baking for a while (all that holiday chocolate still to get through), so tonight I did some savoury baking instead, and made a bunch of pizza bases.
I only started documenting the process about half way though, but I started with some lukewarm water and olive oil, then whisked in some easy-bake yeast, a little salt, and half of the flour - a mixture of white and wholemeal. Then I added the rest of the flour and used my hands to mush it all together into a dough.
Then came the fun part. 10 minutes of kneading. Kneading is hard. It was cold outside today. I was wearing thermals. Kneading dough for 10 minutes was a much more effective way of getting warm. I then popped the dough in a bowl and left it to rise.
This was the result after an hour:
Cool, yes?
A quick bash to knock some of the air out, and pizza base making factory kicked in. I divided the dough into 6 equal parts.
Each part was bashed around a little, then rolled out flat.
Each base needed to rest for 5 minutes, then be cooked for 10. I only have two baking trays big enough for the bases that I like, so a rotation system comes into play.
The timer is set to go off every 5 minutes. At one point the situation was:
Base 1: Cooling on a wire rack
Base 2: In the oven on the final 5 minutes of cooking
Base 3: In the oven on the first 5 minutes of cooking
Base 4: Sitting on a bread board resting for 5 minutes
Base 5: Being kneaded and rolled into shape
Base 6: Waiting patiently in the bowl
It was fun.
The end result is five pizza bases all now in the freezer ready to come out at a moments notice, be popped in the oven for 5 minutes, have some yummy things put on top, and baked for 10 more minutes. A quick and not too unhealthy dinner (depending on the yummy things I put on top of course)
The sixth base became dinner, with the addition of some tomato puree, last night’s pasta sauce (tofu, spinach, veggies and tomato), and a little cheese on top.
Yum.
Yum is right.
23 Jan 2007 at 11:33 pm
Yes … the eating. Sigh.
We still have a couple crusts in the freezer. And we’re now starving, having read about your baking, so will go make some pizza!
Did you honestly put things together in the order you state, though? I’m wondering, as I tend to be a bit of a nut when it comes to when to add the salt & oil, because they inhibit the action of the yeast … and am wondering if maybe I don’t need to be so worried as I’ve been.
24 Jan 2007 at 2:22 am
PIZZA PAAAAARTYYYYY
Ohh, that all sounds divine. I made some one time from a pizza base kit and they worked out very nicely, after an hour in my hotpress, and were eaten within seconds of cooking. haven’t attempted from scratch though..yet.
24 Jan 2007 at 12:33 pm
That looks good. Although, everyone knows you’re not supposed to roll out pizza dough, you throw it in the air and spin it.
24 Jan 2007 at 1:25 pm
Looks great. Are you available for catering???
24 Jan 2007 at 2:41 pm
I’d love to see you throwing the pizza base in the air knowing your sporting (dyxlexia)(dixlxia)- unfair I know seeing as you have won a few trophies more than anyone else.
24 Jan 2007 at 10:29 pm
I should have read your blog after my dinner…having store bought pizza for dinner tonight
25 Jan 2007 at 7:47 pm
David - my recipe says to put the yeast in with the water and oil, and add the salt in with the flour. It’s written for fresh yeast - the easybake stuff seems a bit more resilient.
27 Jan 2007 at 3:33 pm
You had me at ‘cheese on top’. I choose to overlook the terribly flawed ‘little’. Can I come live with you?
27 Jan 2007 at 7:17 pm