Tonight is Pizza Night - Dough Recipe

Some days you just need to re-group and deal with what is rather than what you think it should be and today was one of those days.  A day to be in the moment and more mindful.  It has been a cold dark day apart from a small patch of sunshine earlier on and the temperature has dropped again.  In my infinite wisdom I decided it was a good idea  to make Pizza tonight from scratch. In the circumstances I therefore decided to delay plans that I was originally going to do today a day forward.  Nothing will be harmed in the greater scheme of things. Just being respectful of my own limits.

Whether it is the cold, the rain or a combo of both my hands have not been good today and have had a lot of pain with them as well as my shoulder.  I have found in the past that sometimes actually trying to keep exercising them for a little while  and to do something gives them a small workout which often helps with the pain and getting through the pain barrier. I do have a high tolerance in any event.  Therefore if I start mentioning, it has been more uncomfortable than usual. If it is particularly bad I just rest and dose up with pain killers.  Now I am not one for popping pain killers willy nilly.  They really are a last resort as far as I am concerned.  I am not a fan of popping pills!

Today though I decided that I would have another go at the kneading by hand and so have made the pizza dough from scratch. This is another good recipe to make use of small amounts off food lurking around in the fridge and the Pantry and feed the family cheaply.  It was a new to me recipe though, so there were a couple of hiccups.

Now this recipe makes 6 individual pizzas or one large big tray pizza which is what I am going for on this occasion.  I am using Waitrose Canadian 00 flour for this.  Canadian bread flour is very good in my humble opinion for home bread making.

The recipe itself consists of the following ingredients:

650g/1lb 7oz 00 or Extra strong Bread flour

7g yeast sachet

2 teaspoons of salt

25ml/1 fl oz of Olive oil

50ml/2 fl oz Warmed milk

325ml/11 fl oz Warmed water

Not sure where I go the recipe from it is one I have had for a while.

Basically you add the flour, yeast and salt to a bowl.   Mix thoroughly.

Then add in the Olive oil, followed by the warmed milk adding a little at a time and amalgamating with the flour.  Finally add in the warmed water, yet again a little at a time to bring the dough together.  Knead for approximately 10 minutes or so until smooth.

After initial addition of the oil, milk.  Still have water to add.

After initial kneading of 10 minutes for me.  Needs more work so going to keep going on this.  My hands are not really strong.

That is better, still not perfect but slowly getting there.

Decant into a clean bowl ( I dust with flour) and then add the kneaded dough.  Cover with a damp cloth.  I have used one of my muslin preserving cloths for this purpose.  Leave to rise for 1-1/2 hours until doubled in size.

Check the dough, knock it back by kneading again until the surface is smooth.  Leave for another 1 hour to prove again.  I was very pleased with how the dough came up, especially bearing in mind my difficulties.

Here you have the choice to split into six balls of dough, wrap them in clingfilm and then freeze them for use on another day.  So you do have options. Defrost overnight in the fridge and then add your toppings on your chosen day of cooking.

Turn on your cooker to its highest setting.

Split your proved dough into six if making individual pizzas and then roll out.  Start adding your flavourings additions.  I usually start with some passata and some Mozarrella or other cheese (grated cheese).  Load your pizzas  - not too heavily as remember they need to cook.  Cook the small pizzas for approximately 10 minutes.

If making a large tray pizza like I am doing, roll or press out your dough to a greased tray and then start adding your choice of toppings.  Try not to overload the pizza like I did as it takes longer to cook and can make the dough stodgy.  Mine cooked for 40 minutes but there are some adjustments to make.

I have passata, onion, garlic, cheddar, peppers, courgette, some Roule to use up, pineapple, Parma ham, Ham, Beef, Courgette, Jalapeno.

The pizza came out well.  I thought that I was doing more than okay when I managed to stretch the pizza out without having to roll it.  When I popped the pizza in the lined baking tray it was as flat as a pancake.  Something happened in the oven and it ended up with an extremely wide girth.  Hands up my fault I  used all the dough.  Next time I shall make them individually or not use as much dough in the actual tray.  It is a learning curve and so next time I make it I shall take this into account.  Trial and error with any recipe is normal  until you find your way around it.

I layered the pizza up.  Probably too much in retrospect but as I have said it is very much a learning curve with new recipes.

The pizza flavourings were very tasty so I got that bit right so it is just very much down to the thickness. I used a selection of dried fried bacon, pineapple, courgette, red onion, grated cheddar cheese, passata, garlic, jalapeno, cherry tomatoes, anchovies, Roulle cheese (that is nice), Parma ham, beef.

So all in all a play day for me doing something that I love and after furthering my knowledge of making things in the field as it were.  Some amendments to make for next time but loved the flavour of it.

Hope everyone has had a lovely day.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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