by Emily Hall

Created on: January 12, 2009   Last Updated: August 10, 2010

I've been making my own pizza dough for a few years now and am a complete convert from shop bought bases. Pizza dough is easy to make (and hard to get wrong - the two don't always go together in my kitchen!) and there are lots of ways you can jazz up the basic mix. The recipe I have given here is sufficient for two 10in pizzas, but can be made into smaller or larger sized circles depending on how thick you like it. Italian 00 flour makes delicious pizza bases, but I use this recipe on the spur of the moment so it tends to encompass whatever bread flour is around. I've found it works nicely with strong white.

You will need: A large glass or ceramic bowl; 400g strong white bread flour; 1 tbsp easy active dried yeast; 250ml warm water; 1 tbsp olive oil; salt to taste and a splash of milk (a couple of teaspoons) to bring together; a pre greased baking tray or two, making sure there will be enough room for both pizzas.

1) Sieve the dry ingredients together.

2) Add the warm water and begin mixing with your hands. As the dough becomes a soft ball, add the olive oil and milk. Continue kneading, adding milk or flour as the consistency requires. The dough should feel more elastic than bread dough and should hold together if you stretch it.

3) Coat your ball of dough with olive oil to keep its elasticity, then cover and place somewhere dry and warm to rise. The dough will need to rise until it has doubled in size, which will take a couple of hours.

4) Place the dough on a floured worktop and punch down to its original size. Divide the dough in half, making two dough balls. Shape them into pizza bases, first with a floured rolling pin, then stretching them out by hand to the required size. Finish off with a quick swipe of the rolling pin to make sure they are even in thickness. They are now ready to add toppings.

You can add mixed herbs to this dough to make it more aromatic, which works well if the herbs are fresh (you could also use freeze dried mixes). If you like spicy toppings, you could mirror this in your pizza base by adding a teaspoon of ground chilli, cayenne pepper, ginger or mixed ground peppercorns. Wholemeal dough also works well but will turn out more crusty than the more conventional white flour.

Toppings are usually based on tomato paste, although you can make a lovely tomato-free pizza with crushed garlic in olive oil spread under pan fried onions and mushrooms. Tomato bases are easy - you can make your own by pulverising three tomatoes per pizza in a mixer, then simmering over a low heat to thicken. You can also reduce sauce from a jar this way. Then add cheese - Mozzarella is the classic but Cheddar, red Leicester and Edam are good additions to make a four cheese pizza. A tomato paste base with Mozzarella is good combined with pepperoni, chorizo or anchovies, and it's always a nice touch to add some onions, lightly pan fried until just translucent. If you are making a pan fried topping, undercook it in the pan because you need to bake the pizza for 20 minutes in the oven on full heat.

Pizzas are very versatile so experiment! You can make large quantities of dough and sauce and freeze them. It's a great meal to pull out of the bag at the last minute - everyone loves a pizza!

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