#Ingredients
From the kitchen
- 4 pizza trays Sainsbury’s 14" trays are a great option, but Nonna’s trays work best if you can get your hands on some
- Jug
- Large mixing bowl
- Clean surface
- Chopping board and knife
- Rolling pin
- Flour shaker this is optional, but helps avoid sticky fingers on the bag of flour
- Clingfilm or a tea towel
For the dough Jump to method
- 650g strong white flour preferably “00” grade flour, but any strong bread flour will do
- 7g sachet dried powdered bread yeast
- Pinch of salt
- Warm water
For the sauce Jump to method
- ½ red onion, 2 sticks celery chopped as finely as possible
- Olive oil
- Pinch of salt
- Lots of ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 4 fat cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp pesto ensure it’s veggie or vegan if you need it to be
- 1 tbsp tomato concentrate
- 450g tin of good quality chopped tomatoes
- 4–5 tbsp tomato passata
- 10 medium mushrooms roughly chopped
- 400g mozzarella cheese
- Toppings of your choice
#Making the dough Jump to ingredients
The dough takes around 30 minutes to make, and then needs at least 60 minutes to prove.
- Sift the flour, yeast and salt into a large mixing bowl.
- Add warm water a little at a time and manually mix into a dough. If it is too sticky add a a little more flour, if too dry add more water. It should have a pliable texture.
- Turn the dough onto a cold surface and continue to kneed for a few more minutes, dusting with flour from time to time to prevent it sticking to the surface.
- Fashion it into a ball.
- Put the dough back into the bowl and cover with Clingfilm (or a damp cloth).
- Place into a warm place and leave for at least an hour, preferably two.
#Making the sauce Jump to ingredients
The sauce can be made in advance or while the dough is proving; it takes around 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- Add a few glugs of olive oil to a pan on a low heat, and add the onions and celery.
- After a couple of minutes add the pressed garlic, oregano, pesto, tomato concentrate, and the salt and pepper.
- Allow to fry on a low heat for a few minutes until the mixture has softened and taken on the look of marmalade. If it is drying out, add a little more oil.
- The add the sliced mushrooms and stir together for 20 seconds. The mushrooms will absorb a lot of the oily juices.
- Now add the chopped tomatoes and the passata. Allow to warm for a minute or so and then remove form the heat.
#Assembling your pizzas
Assembling the pizzas takes around 10 minutes, and they then take between 11 and 13 minutes to cook.
- Around 50 minutes before you plan to serve put on the oven to 240°C (475°F, Gas Mark 9) and allow it to heat up fully – it is important that the oven is very hot when you put the pizzas in.
- At the same time remove the dough from the mixing bowl – which should have trebled in size – and kneed it (adding more flour as necessary as it will now be stickier) on the cold surface.
- Divide the dough into four equal parts and then make each part into a ball and flatten it.
- Leave the dough discs to rest for at least 15 minutes. During this time they will rise again a little.
- While you are waiting prepare the tins by lightly oiling and flouring them – it’ll stop the pizzas from sticking.
- Drain the mozzarella and chop into small pieces. Always prep more than you need as you might find a few rogue characters pinching the odd chunk if your back is turned!
- When the dough has rested, roll each disc (keep the flour shaker at hand!) into flat thin sheets and lay in the tins.
- Spread the tomato/mushroom topping (less is more) and add the mozzarella.
- Cook in the preheated oven for 13 minutes, but check after 11.
- Take the pizza out of the oven, slice, and enjoy!
#Toppings
This recipe covers the basic pizza, but we encourage self-expression through toppings. Add your choices just before it goes in the oven. Here are a few tried and tested winners:
Rob’s quattro formaggi
Blue cheese, goat’s cheese and caciotta with thinly sliced red onion.
Giorgio’s special
Spicy chorizo and red chillies will add a kick to any pizza.
Il Domenico vero
Black olives, onions, mushrooms, pepperoni and extra mozzarella.
Anna’s special
Great quality tuna and a good sprinkling of sweetcorn.
Hannah’s piña Cooke-lada
A Hawaiian classic – ham, pineapple, and mushrooms.
Mum’s special
Prosciutto crudo, and funghi.