This recipe is adapted from one by Ken Forkish in his book Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast.
Utensils
- oven
- cling film
- large bowl for mixing and letting the dough prove in
- (optional but recommended) pizza stone
- (optional but recommended) flat (no lip on the edge) oven tray for delivering the pizza to the hot oven
- (optional) dough scraper
- (optional) blender to make a smooth sauce / pesto
Ingredients
For the dough
- 400g strong white bread flour
- 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (other yeasts will do but will acquire adjustments to quantity)
- 8g salt
- 280g lukewarm water
For the sauce
- 400g tin of tomatoes
- (optional) one tablespoon tomato puree
- (optional) half an onion
- (optional) one clove of garlic
- (optional) herbs of your choice
- (optional) HP Sauce! / soy source / something to give it some umami
- salt and pepper to taste
For toppings
- (optional) mozzarella / other cheese / vegan equivalent
- (optional) a few thinly sliced vegetables of your choice (peppers, mushrooms, olives...)
- (optional) nuts / herbs / olive oil for a quick pesto
Method
- Mix all the ingredients together and knead too a loose sticky dough
- Form the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly floured covered bowl and leave it to prove in a warm place (around 25 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes)
- Letter-fold the dough and return it to its proving bowl
- Leave to prove until doubled in size - around 5 hours!
That gives us some time, so make your sauce / prep your toppings
- finely dice the onion
- heat a pan on low and fry the onion till soft
- add the finely diced / crushed garlic for a minute or two
- add the remaining ingredients and simmer on low for at least 15 minutes
- (optional) blend the sauce, it's easier to spread on the pizza
- (optional) blend together some nuts, herbs, olive oil and seasoning to make a pesto, e.g. walnuts and parsley
Back to the dough
- Split the dough into balls around 340g in weight
- Lightly cover the balls with olive oil and cling film and place in the fridge for a couple of hours to a coupe of days
- Preheat oven and baking stone to 250 degrees Celsius - will take around an hour
- Shape
- Flour a peel / baking tray, place dough on it and quickly cover with sauce and toppings
- Slide directly onto the hot stone and bake for around 6 minutes
- Serve
