Pizza dough

This great recipe to make your own pizza dough is from Elena Bonnici of the famous Pizza Meine Liebe in Northcote, Melbourne. This is her family’s traditional pizza dough recipe, and the best one we’ve tasted by far. Elena has recently opened UAE (United Arab Eatery) at 107 High Street Preston – so check it out Melburnians. Well worth a visit.

PIZZA DOUGH

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 20 mins plus resting time (rest for 1 hr and 10 mins)
Makes: 2 large pizzas

Ingredients

Dough

• 14g of dried yeast (or 30g of fresh yeast if you have it)
• 2 teaspoons of caster sugar
• 400ml warm water
• 500g of plain flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• semolina (or extra flour) for rolling out dough

Tomato sauce

• ¼ cup (60ml) of olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
• 400g of tinned diced tomatoes
• 2 sprigs of basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• a pinch of caster sugar

Toppings

• Mozzarella block or ball
• Basil leaves, torn
• Ham, salami, olives – pick your favourites

Method

1. In a jug, combine the yeast, sugar and 100ml of warm water and set aside to allow the yeast to activate.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour and salt, and then add in the yeast mix and the remaining 300ml of warm water.
3. Mix together using your hand until a ball starts to form.
4. Turn mixture onto a floured bench and knead for around 10 minutes until the mixture is tight and smooth. Alternatively, mix in an electric mixer with a dough hook for 5 minutes. If the mixture is too wet when you start to knead, add some extra flour or if it is too dry, a little more water.
5. Put the dough into a bowl, cover with a clean tea towel in a warm area of the kitchen (or in your oven if it can be set to around 38ºC) until it doubles in size – around one hour.
6. Preheat oven to around 200ºC.
7. While the dough is resting, make the tomato sauce by heating the oil at a low temperature, then add the garlic. Cook on a low heat until soft but not coloured, then add the tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper and sugar. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 20–30 minutes until quite dry. Remove the basil sprigs once cooked, leaving the leaves in the sauce.
8. When dough has doubled in size, divide mixture into two balls (or more for smaller pizzas), and then set aside for another 10 minutes.
9. Dust your rolling surface with semolina (or flour) and roll out dough into desired size and shape.
10. Transfer to an oven tray and top with tomato sauce and your favourite toppings. Cut 3mm slices of mozzarella to finish the pizza.
11. Place in hot oven on the lowest shelf and cook for around 10–15 minutes or until cheese has melted and crust is golden.