Simple, tasty & best of all fun to make! Easy peasy homemade pizzas to make along with the children...

Welcome to my kitchen! I do hope you are all keeping well.

I thought today my children and I would show you how to make delicious homemade pizzas. They are such fun to make, encourage creativity and keep small hands busy for a while! Plus they really are so tasty.

I was taught this recipe by our first Italian au pair, who lived on pizzas, chocolate biscuits, coffee and Coca Cola! It’s a really quick and easy recipe, and my children just adore taking part so I hope yours do too.

This recipe appears in my Family Meal Guide And Planner available on my online shop, so do check it out if you’d like more quick and simple recipes like this that can help with structure at this strange time.

The recipe inside the planner calls for 500g of strong white bread flour, but I understand this can be hard to get hold of at the moment what with everybody taking up baking! So I’ve given the menu a little jig to hopefully help a little.

I do use a Kenwood mixer with the dough hook attachment to help us knead the dough. You can use an electric whisk with dough hook attachments if you have one, or good old fashioned hand kneading!

If you’re planning on having the pizza for lunch, just make the dough after breakfast and then it will have had plenty of time to rise!

Also, do leave the bowl that the dough was in to dry before cleaning! Once it’s dried it’s much easier to get out!

The recipe is for four personal-sized pizzas. If you have any dough leftover at the end, why not create a base and give it a quick bake in the oven until not-quite cooked, wrap it in some cling film and pop it into the freezer to top another day. You can also create the entire pizza, pop it into the oven to bake and then remove to freeze. If you’re ever short for time or food it’s there to simply take from the freezer and give a blast in the oven.

Recipe:

For The Dough:

500g strong white bread flour

OR

250g plain white flour

combined with

250g strong white bread flour

8g sea salt

7g sachet fast-action dried yeast - you can use half a sachet if you’re short on supplies.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

plus extra for greasing and kneading

300ml lukewarm water

Method:

Put the flour, salt and yeast into a large mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the olive oil and water.

Either mix by hand or use the dough hook attachment on your food processor on the slowest setting.

You should get a soft but not sticky dough, if it’s too wet add a little more flour or too dry a little more water. It should come away from the sides of the bowl.

Rub a little olive oil over your hands and worktop to stop it sticking and then knead really well for about 10 mins or on the slowest setting of your food processor for 5 mins.  It should feel very stretchy and silky smooth. 

Put the dough back in the bowl cover with cling film or an airtight lid and leave to rise for about 1 hour or until you are ready to use it. My au pair advised us to pop it into a bed under the duvet, but I prefer to use the top of the Aga!

Preheat the oven to a high setting and when the dough is ready punch down the risen dough with your knuckles to deflate it then turn out onto your oiled worktop. Make sure there’s plenty of oil on the surface so it doesn’t stick to fingers whilst stretching.

Split the dough into 4 portions, take the first one and press and pull it into a thin circle about 25cm. Move them onto a baking tray lined with Baco-glide or similar. Alternatively, move the ball of dough straight onto the baking tray for the stretching to make the whole process easier!

For The Toppings:

Passata (I love Pizza Express one) just make sure it’s not too watery. If you only have a can of tomatoes, drain the liquid away and keep for a soup or similar. Then squash the tomatoes into smaller pieces for easier spreading.

Mozzarella cut into small chucks

100g grated Cheddar cheese

Salami

Olives

Ham

Method:

Using a spoon smear over a little passata first, then add ham or salami. Sprinkle over your cheese - don’t use too much mozzarella as it can make your pizza soggy!

Place on a hot baking tray and cook for 8-10 mins on a high heat. If using an electric oven this would be around 200c. If using an Aga, I like to place one the pizza onto the floor of the baking oven for half of the time, before swapping to the top. This ensures a nice crispy base. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t overcook!

What toppings do you children like on theirs?! Ours especially love a good covering of olives!

Love,