Today I'm doing something different.. I'm going to be blogging about food! I probably won't do this often but I have genuinely been asked by a few people to blog about this specific dish.
Have a look at my about me, you'll see there somewhere that I speak about a certain obsession of mine.. Oh yes. It's pizza. I mean we all do like a bit of this Italian cake but in my life I have met some people who are also just that little bit more .. 'interested' in pizza.
I, personally, can't get enough of it and could probably eat it 6/7 days a week, for the rest of my life, no exaggeration. Pizza can be complimented by a number of sides, contributing to a balanced meal, at the same time as being quit a balanced meal in itself.
Pizza has been around for around 200 years now. The term was first recorded in AD 997, in a Latin manuscript from the southern Italian town of Gaeta, in Lazio, Central Italy. The modern pizza was invented in Naples, Italy, and the dish and its variants have since become popular in many areas of the world.
The modern pizza evolved from early flatbread meals created by the Greeks and the Romans. The ancient Greeks covered their bread with oils, herbs and cheese. And later, The Romans developed placenta cake, a sheet of dough topped with cheese and honey and flavoured with bay leaves.
Early forms of pizza were actually found in Greece, in an ancient underground cellar, where 1,000,000,000 freshly preserved pizzas were found, 20,000 years old.
Okay, that's not true, I get carried away, if you know me then you know that one of my favourite things to do is telling people something crazy with a straight face, momentarily leaving people shocked, until I gift them with relief. That 2 second look of despair is priceless.
Anyway, less about my silly ways. Pizza. Yes. Ever since an early age, my family have made pizzas together instead of buying them from stores or take-aways, credit has to be given to my auntie Jennifer who first gave my mum the wonderful recipe and a big thanks is due to the pizza company situated in Viersen, Germany (who gave my auntie there own recipe).
Making pizzas at home saves you a BUCKET load, and nothing taste better than the work of your own hands. "The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands." Deuteronomy 28:12.
For the last 5 years, I have been eating pizzas religiously. Working at Pizza Hut was a main factor, I was addicted to all the different pizzas they sold but working there also made my want for homemade pizza greatly increase. I now consider myself a pro pizza maker and a lot of the pies I have made can be viewed on my Instagram!
Here's what you need..
Ingredients
300g Strong Bread Flour
1tsp Salt
1tsp Instant Yeast
1tbsp Olive Oil
200ml Warm Water
Toppings
Toppings do vary dependant on each person. Here are the toppings I go for, for 1 pizza..
4 Slices of Salami
4 Slices of Pepperoni
3 Mushroom
10 Olives (20 halves)
1 Bacon Rasher
Half a small cup of Sweetcorn
Buffalo Mozzarella
Mixed Herbs (as much as you like)
Thyme (as much as you like)
And here's what you've all been waiting for, instructions..
THE DOUGH
1. PREHEAT THE OVEN AT GASMARK 8
2. Measure up everything that you need, use scales for the flour. tsp = teaspoon, tbsp = tablespoon.
3. Get a big bowl, pour the flour into the bowl with the yeast and salt. When you've done that mix them well and consistently.
4. Make a well in the middle and pour in the olive oil and warm water.
5. Mix it all together.
6. Make sure you kneed the dough very well, it seems like a long process but the more attention you pay to the dough, the better your pizza will turn out, take my word for it.
THE SAUCE
1.Chop up half an onion, preferably a white one.
2. Open your tin of chopped tomatoes with your teeth (or a can opener)
3. Heat up about a tbsp of olive oil.
4. Add the onions and any seasoning, but don't go to mad as you don't want to lose the essentially natural tomato taste.
5. After about 4-7 mins with onions on low heat, add the tomatoes.
6. Add some anything else you like, but again.. DON'T GO OVERBOARD.
7. Leave it to cook for another 10 minutes and then leave the pot on the side to stand and get back to rolling out that perfectly kneeded dough.
THE PIZZA
1. Hopefully your dough isn't too tough, if so.. you may need to add some olive, about half a teaspoon and a dash of water.
2. Flour your surface and proceed to roll out the dough.
3. Flour your pizza pan/oven dish.
4. Do most of the stretching outside of the pan, but you may need to stretch it a lil' bit more if it's not touching the sides and you're a perfectionist, comme moi.
5. Apply your sauce and then your cheese.
6. A tip I picked up from Pizza Hut - PMV (Pepperoni, Meat, Veg), this is the order in which you ideally should be topping your pizza.
7. Put it into your pre-heated oven, for about 20-30 minutes, dependant on how brown you want it. I leave it in for just over 20 minutes, my mum pushes the 30s.
8. VOILA, you've just saved yourself about £13! Enjoy the work of your own hands.
Sit back and enjoooooy.
Now, presenting to you some pictures of the process..
The whole process may seem a tad time-consuming but I assure you it doesn't take long at all, about an hour in total, as quickly as 40 minutes for me sometimes. And all for a taste that is unbeatable! Go and make yourself a wholesome homemade Italian pizza pie NOW.
Stay tuned and stay blessed!
