Hello, everyone.
Exciting days around here! Lots is happening and I can’t wait to share.
Tonight, we’ll celebrate and make pizza. I’ve had so many requests for my recipe. With two teen boys and multiple skateboarding friends, it’s a huge hit.
When it’s pizza night, I make my dough anytime during the day and leave it to rise. Here’s a pro tip: this pizza is better baked on a simple pizza stone that goes into your cold oven, and then you turn the oven as high as it goes. And it’s best to have a pizza spatula. Assemble your pizza on the spatula to slide onto the hot pizza stone.
‘You’re Always Fun To Be With’ Pizza Night Recipe
Turn on your favourite happy music. (For me, that’s jazz!)
In a bowl, mix together with a whisk:
4.5 cups plain flour
6 teaspoons dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1.5 cups warm-but-closer-to-hot water. Mix everything together with your hands a little.
Plop the doughy mixture (loose, with flour bits and chunky bits…it doesn’t even look like it’s mixed much at this point) on the bench top.
Knead it all together for around five minutes. You’ll wind up with a smooth ball.
(While you knead, have a little daydream about your people. I think about my three guys, wishing them all the good things they need, and imagine me being there for them—healthy and fun and ready to listen.)
Oil the bowl, pop the dough in, cover with cling wrap and let it sit in a warm place for at least an hour (or as long as you want). Pro tip: I heat up my oven to 150C when I start making dough, then shut it off to cool down. That’s where I put my dough to rise.
Punch it down once, let it rise again for a while. Divide into 8 sections. Roll out thinly.
Really important: put the pizza stone in a cold oven, turn it as high as it goes, and when super hot, bake pizza for 6 minutes.
Happy pizza night! See you Sunday.
Love, Catherine x