Here’s how to make a pizza from scratch in your own home. This recipe provides 2 x 170gm dough balls perfect for a 10 inch diameter fry pan.

We’ve broken it down into 6 key stages.

Stage 1: Yeast Starter

Ingredients

Method

Put the 3 ingredients into a sturdy glass and stir well with a teaspoon until dissolved
Place in a warm area of the kitchen and set aside for 30 mins until a layer of froth forms on the top like a cappuccino (this is a good way to check the yeast has life in it)

Stage 2: Dough Starter

Ingredients

Method

Place the flour in a high sided bowl, add the yeast starter and stir together using a silicone spatula to ensure everything is combined and you have no lumps or unmixed dough
Leave the ‘batter’ in a warm part of your kitchen covering with a cloth or plate until you see a 50% rise in the mix (approx 2 hours)

Ingredients

Method

Add half of the flour and all of the salt to your risen starter and fold with a spatula until the ingredients have combined together – with a little flour around the bowl remaining
Turn out the dough (and any remaining flour) onto a cold work surface and bring the dough together until you have combined all the flour and salt and you have a smooth dough throughout. Intermittently use some of the remaining flour in your glass to continue to sprinkle on the dough to stop it sticking and to bring the dough together so not too wet. It will form a dough ball which is easy to handle – soft but well mixed together
Pour the olive oil in your bowl, add the dough ball and cover the surface with the oil, place on a lid /tea towel and rest for 1 to 2 hours

Ingredients

Method

Take the oiled dough ball from the bowl and cut through into 2 equal parts
Sprinkle a little flour onto a cold surface and stretch each dough ball by bringing the dough together, pushing forward through the dough, turn the dough 90 degrees, fold the dough over (in half) to bring the dough together again and do this a maximum 16 times (turning dough through 360 degrees 4 times).
Note: the oil on the dough ball will initially help prevent the dough sticking to your hands.
The dough has now been worked enough to strengthen the gluten strands which provides the structure to hold the air in and create the bubbles when cooking
Finally dust each ball lightly with flour and place onto a tray and cover allowing a minimum of 1 hour (in a warm environment) to a maximum of 24 hours (in a fridge) to prove and let the flavours develop. The longer the prove the more distinct the flavour of the dough.

Ingredients

Method

Take the dough ball from the tray and dust with flour or semolina (which I prefer for a crustier pizza crust) and place onto a smooth cool surface. Now the roll!
Treating the dough ball gently to retain structure, place ball onto a counter and gently outwardly flatten with the dry palm of your hand turning through 90 degrees after each press and stretch. Keep the dough ball lightly dusted and when you have a round flattish dough ball (the size of a saucer) continue to turn and roll using a rolling pin or your hands
If we are turning and stretching with my hands we will keep a 2 cm frame of puffy dough around the disc by pushing evenly out from the middle. If using a rolling pin this will be a little more difficult but, in both counts, try to avoid overworking the outer rim of the dough ball.

Ingredients

Method

Take a 10-12 inch heavy bottomed frying pan and place on to a hob at the highest setting and turn on to heat up
Place your rolled-out pizza disc in the pan. Leave ‘naked’ for no more than 1 minute to cook the base through.
Note: You will start to see some rising of the dough across the whole disc
Add your sauce of choice and any toppings you choose - we like using either a béchamel base or passata made from organic tomatoes, topped with cheese and seasonal veg or meat-free sausages (as pictured)
Don’t overload your pizza as this will hinder the cooking of the dough
Check the base of the pizza using a plastic spatula to ensure it is nicely browned underneath
Now place on the top shelf under your grill at its highest setting to cook the toppings and melt the cheese from the top
Keep checking until you have a nice bubbly top to your pizza
Note: Do not place any delicate ingredients such as basil leaves on the top as these will burn under the grill
When cooked to your liking remove to a wooden board and confidently slice through from crust to crust with a pizza wheel otherwise cut downwards and through with a kitchen knife

Congratulations! you are now officially a lockdown pizzaiola chef.