Kitchen Craft Episode 36: Italian pizza

• 1 ½ cups lukewarm water
• 1 x 10 g sachet active yeast 
• 3 T sugar 
• 3 cups flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 T salt
• 3 T olive oil
• Semolina or polenta, for rolling out the dough

For the toppings:

• 1½ cups Woolworths Passata Sauce
• 2 x 150 g tubs fresh Woolworths Ayrshire Fior di Latte Mozzarella
• Fresh basil leaves
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Optional:

• 4 T basil pesto 
• 70 g Serrano ham

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, yeast and sugar. Set aside to allow the yeast to begin bubbling; this should take about 10 minutes.
2. Add the flour, salt and olive oil. Mix using an electric mixer or a wooden spoon, working the mixture just until a dough forms. 
3. If you’re using an electric mixer, knead the dough for about 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and spring back when pressed gently. Otherwise, flour your work surface and knead the dough for 7 minutes. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside until the dough has risen and has doubled in size (about an hour). 
4. Knockdown the dough and divide it into 2 equal balls. Dust your surface with a little flour and begin rolling out the dough to form the pizza base. Dust your tray or pizza stone with some semolina flour or polenta before gently laying the dough on the tray. 
5. Spoon over the passata sauce and gently spread over the dough. Tear the mozzarella and add to the pizza then bake for 10 minutes at 200C, or until the cheese has melted and the pizza base is cooked through.  
6. Top your pizza with fresh basil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. If you like, spoon over some pesto and scatter with Serrano ham. 

Not big on baking?

SHOP READY-MADE PIZZA