How To Make A Perfect Pizza (And Other Stories)

I love this pizza recipe. Served fresh from the oven, the dough is soft and warm, with the exact-right amount of chewiness.

Nope, it's not my healthiest dough (if you want a more wholesome dough, try this pizza made with some wholemeal flour or this partially-wholemeal pizza. You could also use pita bread as a pizza base, but I digress...) This is a really easy and highly satisfying pizza recipe that should definitely be part of your repertoire.

Honestly, what could be more appealing than the home-baked scent of fresh dough, mingling with lightly toasted cheese and herbs? (What's that you say? Coffee?! Ok, you got me. The smell of fresh coffee is pretty appealing. Brew me some while we are cooking!)

Making pizza is one of my most popular activities, both with me (it being a quick tea) and my children (so long as I don't get too adventurous with the toppings). More on that later...

In a break from the norm, I'll pop the recipe at the bottom of this post, so scroll on by if you want to skip the chit-chat. It's just that some people have been saying they would like to see more behind the scenes stuff. Me and the children in various bread-related daily life, tales from Team Pattisson and so on.

So, I've been busy with the camera and this is our week in bread.

Soup moments:

Much bread and butter was consumed

Who doesn't like to dip their bread in their soup?!

But don't dip your hair... Oh never mind!

 Marmite moments:

Blatant posing:

Signs of spring:

I know this is not bread but aren't they pretty?

A renewed interest in sourdough:

Oh my goodness! Will somebody please feed me?!

And, mercifully, someone else cooking for a change:

Delicious fresh bread awaiting us on our arrival at Terry's house

Bread-and-butter pudding, packed with goodies! Mmmmm :)

And back to pizza:

I topped ours with chopped tomatoes from a carton, oregano, sliced green pepper and some crumbled Wensleydale cheese. Oh, and Stilton. Just a little bit. It gave the topping a wonderful saltiness and wasn't in the least bit mouldy-flavoured. But my five year old Found Out and promptly refused to eat it, even the bits I said definitely had no Stilton on them. Note to self: stick to cheddar. The rest of the family loved it though, honest!

Perfect Pizza Recipe

400g/13 oz/2⅔ cups strong white flour
1 tsp sugar (yes, I did include it in this recipe. I think it made the dough more springy, by speeding up the yeast, but feel free to miss it out Why Use Sugar In Bread Dough?)
1 tsp instant dried yeast
1 tbsp vegetable oil
275ml/9 fl oz/just over 1 cup water

Follow this method please. I managed to make two large pizzas with this quantity of dough.

My added 'top tip' is to bake the pizza in a really hot oven; as high as it will go. Maybe turn it down a bit after five minutes, to prevent the toppings from being cremated, but the high heat gives the dough a wonderful lift, making it all the more springy and delicious.

More! More! More!

Your chance to grab a copy of my guide to Fresh Bread In 20 Minutes.

Get a copy of The Recipes ebook before the price goes up.

Find out how to make your bread not only taste great but look awesome, too.

Comment, like and share! Thank you so much :)