“Pizza is basically really good bread with toppings on, nothing less, nothing more!” – Dean Brettschneider, Global Baker and Great Kiwi Bake Off Judge.
You would agree with Dean, once you make pizza from scratch.
If this is something you want to get your hands on, then I’d be more than happy to take you to my little kitchen and show you how I struggled and conquered mine.
Think of it as a small project, an experiment, or make it a family activity. Anything that might fuel your excitement and wonder. Best of all, have fun. I bet the outcome will be delicious!
What can you expect to see here?
You will find the basics for a homemade pizza. One, how to make the pizza dough. The other, how to assemble and bake the pizza.
You can choose whatever toppings you dream of. But resist the urge to overload your pizza because it might lead to a soggy dough or undercooked toppings.
This recipe serves as a guide, and with that I have chosen two kinds of pizza to make — ham-pineapple and pepperoni – which are quite popular with kids and adults.
What do you need for the pizza dough?
Just a few – warm water, instant or dry active yeast, sugar, bread flour, extra virgin olive oil, and salt.
The recipe for the homemade pizza dough is adapted from Merry Booster, a food blogsite with a collection of amazing bread recipes.
Is it hard to make it? How do you begin?
If you promise to enjoy the ride and not rush it, then you will find it not hard at all.
These are the broad steps in making a pizza –
For the pizza dough:
- Measure the ingredients
- Prepare the yeast
- Mix all the ingredients
- Knead the dough
- Let the dough rise
- Divide the dough and shape into a ball
- Leave the dough to relax
- Stretch dough into a round shape
For the toppings:
- Spread pizza sauce
- Add mozzarella cheese followed by toppings of choice
- Bake
What possible issues you might run into?
The challenge lies in working with dough, in my opinion. Especially if you are making it for the first time. You might have issues with mixing all the ingredients to form a dough mass, which should neither be too wet nor too dry. So, adding a sprinkle of flour or water as you go will correct that.
Another is the kneading part. When I first tried my hand at kneading, I got fixated with the technique and did not mind much why I was doing it. Even with heaps of information I gathered about the whys, what mattered to me was to get the kneading part right.
But you know what, it is good to remember that kneading is vital in preparing the dough to rise.
Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno, expert bread makers and authors of the book Bread, wrote:
“Essential for an open-textured, full-flavoured bread, kneading performs a crucial function in preparing a dough to rise. First, it completes the mixing process by distributing the activated yeast throughout the dough. Continued kneading then allows the flour’s proteins to develop into gluten, which gives dough the ability to stretch and expand.”
With this in mind, the kneading work becomes more purposeful and enjoyable, don’t you think?
There might be other issues you will encounter along the way but it is nothing you cannot handle. I, for instance, struggled with pressing and stretching the dough at the last stage to make it look as round as I could before baking it in the oven. But everything gets better through practice and repetition so I would not worry about that.
Are you now pumped to make your pizza? Let’s go!
How To Make Homemade Ham-Pineapple & Pepperoni Pizza
Homemade Ham-Pineapple and Pepperoni Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 1 cup (230ml) water, warm
- ½ tsp instant or dry active yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 cups (415g) bread flour
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, and more for oiling the bowl
- 1 tsp salt
Ham & Pineapple Pizza
- 2-3 tbsp pizza sauce (per pizza dough)
- 110 grams mozzarella cheese, grated
- 70 grams ham, cut into squares
- 105 grams pineapple, cut into small cubes
Pepperoni Pizza
- 2-3 tbsp pizza sauce (per pizza dough)
- 110 grams mozzarella cheese, grated
- 50 grams pepperoni, sliced
Instructions
- Pour the warm water in a large bowl. Add the yeast and sugar, then stir. Leave for 5 minutes to activate the yeast. The mixture should bloom or become foamy as proof that the yeast has been activated. Note 1
- Add some of the bread flour, 1 tbsp olive oil, and 1 tsp salt to the yeasted water. Mix until combined. Add the rest of the flour and mix again until it forms a shaggy dough.
- Tip the dough out onto a floured worktop. If the dough is too sticky, add a teaspoon or more of flour; If it feels dry, sprinkle a bit of water. Knead for about 10 minutes - gently fold, push, and rotate the dough - until smooth and elastic. Then shape it into a ball.
- Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough. Cover it with a cling wrap or a tea towel, and leave it in a warm, draught-free area. Let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. To test whether the rising is complete, gently press with a finger tip. If the indentation springs back gradually but not quite all the way then it is ready. Note 2
- Deflate the dough using your knuckles. Tip the dough out onto a floured worktop. Divide it into three (3) pieces at approximately 230g each. Form each into a ball shape. Lightly flour a large tray or plate and transfer the dough. Apply a thin oil on top of each dough and cover with cling wrap. Leave it to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 230℃ / 450℉ or hotter. Take one dough and place it on a lightly floured worktop. Press and stretch the dough starting from the centre working outwards until the dough is ½ inch thick. Note 3
Ham and Pineapple Pizza
- Transfer the dough to the pizza pan. Spread with pizza sauce, top with mozzarella cheese, ham pieces, and small chunks of pineapple. Bake in a preheated oven for 12-14 minutes until the crust is crisp.
Pepperoni Pizza
- Transfer the dough to the pizza pan. Spread with pizza sauce, top with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni slices. Bake in a preheated oven for 12-14 minutes until the crust is crisp.