SO GRATIFYING - HOMEMADE PIZZA

Maybe there is something intimidating about the thought of homemade pizza, but it really isnt that difficult. Of course, in an ideal dream-kitchen we would all have a wood-fired oven and dough rolling skills of a pizzaiolo, but if that's not the case, making it from scratch without the fancy accessories can work out just as well.

In my opinion, you really need two things. Firstly, you need to find a great base pizza dough recipe- and never lose it! I have mine, and because sharing, is caring you'll find it at the end of this post. Secondly, you need superb quality ingredients to dress up a wonderful dough. Coupled with some creativity, just unleash your imagination...let your tastebuds guide you into choice of toppings, cheeses, herbs, etc. Here is what I went for:

First off, the pizza dough...

Option 1: garlic rubbed dough, mozzarella, mushrooms, dash of black pepper. I love mushrooms on my pizza- the more, the better!

Option 2: a classic margarita

Ten minutes later, my mushroom pizza was ready and I topped on a mixture of arugula and chopped fresh basil

I think this deserves another shot :)

And here is the margarita, the edible incarnation of the expression ''simplicity at it's best'' !

Recipe for basic pizza dough - makes 2 large pizzas

400gr flour

15gm dried yeast + 40ml warm water

200ml water + 1 teaspoon salt

Olive oil for brushing

Mix the dried yeast & warm water in a cup, leave for 15 minutes until frothy.

Prepare a bowl with the flour. Form a well in the center and add the yeast mixture. Mix, then add the 200ml water with the salt. Knead dough for 10 minutes. Form two balls, leave dough to rise in a container that has been brushed with olive oil. I usually leave my dough to rise for at least 5 hours, sometimes I will leave it overnight.

Preheat oven to 220C. Knead the dough again for 5 mins, roll out thinly on a baking tray, add your choice of toppings and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden and crisp.