Homemade Pizza - my 2nd attempt!

It's my 2nd attempt at making pizza. My first (a couple of weeks back) was a complete disaster.  So this time around, I decided to go for something safer - following Donna Hay's recipe and making a simple, classic pizza.  Tasted rather good served with chilli flakes!

Here's a question to all  - Is pizza dough supposed to be sticky?  My dough was rather sticky and I had to add slightly more than 2 tablespoonfuls of extra flour in it. 

And I realised that I should have followed the recipe in rolling out the dough to 26cm in diameter.  I rolled it to about 19cm only, and my pizza base turned out a little too thick!  The good news... I made one pizza only, so I have leftover dough for another try tomorrow!

Basic Pizza Dough (adapted from Donna Hay)

makes 2x26cm large pizzas or up to 8 mini pizzas

1 tsp dried yeast (I used rapid-rise yeast and reduced it to slightly more than 3/4 tsp)

1/4 tsp caster sugar

3/4 cup (180ml) luke warm water

1-1/2 cups (225g) plain flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions- Place the yeast, sugar and water in a bowl and mix to combine.  Set aside in a warm place for 10 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. (I skipped this step as I used rapid-rise yeast. I mixed everything in the step below)

- Place the flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre.  Add the yeast mixture and mix together with a wooden spoon to form a dough. 

- Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 4-5 minutes or until smooth and elastic. (I used my kitchenaid instead!)

- Place the dough in a large bowl, cover with a clean, damp cloth and set aside in a warm place for 25-30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.  (I had to wait for an hour)

Classic Margherita (adapted from Donna Hay)

serves 4

1 x quantity basic pizza dough (as above)

1/3 cup (80ml) tomato puree

2 cups (200g) Pizza cheese

250g cherry tomatoes, halved

sea salt and cracked black pepper

1/2 cup basil leaves

olive oil for brushing and drizzling

Directions

- Preheat oven to 220*C.  Divide the dough into 2 balls and roll out on a lightly floured surface to 26cm rounds. 

- Place the rounds on 2 lightly greased baking trays.

- Spread the bases with the tomato puree leaving a 1cm border and sprinkle with pizza cheese.

- Add the tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the topping is golden and the base is crisp. (I baked for 15 mins and my cheese was burnt, so bake at 12 mins and check constantly if you add more baking time)

- Top with basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil to serve.