As promised, Part Three in our Back to Basics range, Cookie House Pizza made at home - and here is the hook, made in advance, waiting in the freezer!
My family loves pizza, so I make up these bases and put them in the freezer, topped with sauce and cheese and ready to add toppings they are not only a far more economical version of this much loved take away, but they are great for that end of the week, very little left in the fridge, time because you can top them with pretty much whatever you have and they will taste great. You can even load them up before they go into the freezer and because they go frozen straight into a hot oven, they will be cooked and in your tummy quicker than you could drive to the take away!
Cookie House Pizza
This makes 4 large bases
850g strong flour
2g sugar
6g salt
10g instant yeast
5g garlic powder
750ml warm water
40ml olive oil
Place all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with a dough hook until the dough begins to climb the hook, this will take at least five minutes. As we discussed in the Simple White Bread recipe, not all flours are created equal so if you need to add a little more flour or water, this is the time to do it, not too much flour though, we are looking for a very soft and glossy dough. You can also do this by hand or in a food processor, either way, we are looking for a well worked dough that looks like this.
Turn the dough out onto a well floured bench, don’t be alarmed if it looks like this - this is perfect
Cut the dough into four portions and form into four rounds, we do this by turning the cut side of the dough up and pinching the edge and bringing it to the centre to form a ‘flower’.
Then we turn the flower upside down and we make gentle cupping motions with our hands to stretch the surface of the dough sideways and down to form a smooth round.
Now we let these sit for ten minutes to relax while we prepare the trays and the toppers.
I use these perforated trays, I find that they give a gorgeous uniformly brown crust and the pizza does not go soggy, I line them with a square of baking paper so they don’t stick and are easy to slide off onto a cutting board when they have been cooked.
Roll out your pizza dough into a round slightly bigger than your tray and transfer it over, stretch and prod it until it fits, pizza dough is pretty forgiving. Spread with pizza sauce, I just used a shop bought one here, though I will show you how to make your own in summer, top with cheese, or don’t if you are dairy free. Wrap with glad wrap and pop straight into the freezer.
OR - if you are wanting to make some of them straight away, put on your toppings, I have used beef sausage, onion and sage on one and potato, rosemary, onion and olive oil on the other, slide into a hot oven (200 degrees C), for about 20 minutes or until golden. Enjoy. Take Away at Home.