Pizza Base.

[bonnie]

:) Has anyone got a recipy for how to make a tried and tested pizza 12in base.
It's costing me a fortune buying kayles shop pizza.

:(Every recipy i look at, the ingrediants are different.:rolleyes:

[Crocus]

Hi Bonnie Froggielegs, we don't eat pizza's a lot which means I don't make it myself and therefore don't have a tried and tested recipe. Perhaps you want to try this? : ~

http://www.traditionaloven.com/tutorials/pizza.html

http://cook.dannemann.org.uk/cooking/mains/pizza/

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/11084/basic+pizza

[Rustic Pumpkin]

Here's one where I do measure out the ingredients! It is a very simple base and I use granary or malthouse flour as I like the taste, but you can use any strong bread flour. I use a measuring cup as my base, and 1/2 cup = 1 part for this recipe. Of course you can make it bigger or smaller. and this makes a thinner crust in a 13 x 9 pan.

2 parts flour
1 part hot water (about half and half boiling and cold mixed)
1 teasp dried yeast
1 teasp sugar (again, I use a molases type sugar)
1-2 teasp mixed herbs, or any herb of your choice

Mix all together. Add more water if needed to make a dough consitancy. Knead with more flour. No need to put to rise or proove, sprinkle your pan with dried polenta or flour (polenta is great) and then I just roll it out to fit my pan. Use your choice of toppings and bake at gas mark 6 for about 15 mins or until the cheese is bubbling and begining to brown.

[jazzactivist]

Hi bonnie. I make a very easy pizza base using potatoes in the mix, and no yeast, and is very quick to make. I made pizzas yesterday and they turned out very well with a thin, crispy base. The way to do it is:

Makes 1 x 25cm / 10 inch base:

225g / 8oz boiled potatoes
60g / 2oz butter or margarine
115g / 4oz self raising flour
half teaspoon of salt

If the potatoes are hot, mash them with the butter. Add to flour and salt mixture and mix or knead briefly into a soft dough. If the cooked potatoes are cold, mix the butter into the flour and salt and rub together to create a crumb texture then add the mashed cold potatoes and mix / knead to a dough. Heat a shallow, greased, tin / tray in the oven. Take it out and place the ball of dough in the middle of it. Then press it out with your hands until it thinly covers the whole base. Put back in the oven for 5 mins while you prepare the toppings. Then take out and make up your pizza. Put back in the oven to cook as you would expect. The base sometimes turns out thin and crispy or softer, but people seem to really like it either way, and the potatoes add something extra. This recipe is from the book Classic Italian Recipes (1998) published by Parragon.

[bonnie]

Thanks girls. crocus you have given me plenty to look at and your recipy looks straight forward RP.
Jazz i have never heard of a pizza base made with potatoes but am deffinately goin to try yours out on kayleigh, on your head be it.lol.xx

[franbee]

That's a bit like a potato cake, jazz. I sometimes buy them at the market, they are made locally.

[Rustic Pumpkin]

Bouncing off Jazz's potato base, has anyone tried a scone base for a pizza? I've not done this but I saw it once on tv.

[Crocus]

But won't a scone base be to crumbly?

[Rustic Pumpkin]

That's what I think too, but I don't know how they modified it, if at all.

[TIGGYWINKLE]

I have done a scone base, but it just wasn't right. Didn't like it at all.

[Crocus]

My recipe for a scone base will definitely not work, it's too crumbly and 'cakey'. x

[TIGGYWINKLE]

Jazzactivist, at what temperature do you cook your pizza?

[Firefly]

When I make pizza I just use a basic bread dough and roll it out very thin after it has risen as we do not like a thick pizza base. Seems to work for me. Like TW I would like to know what the best temperature is to cook the pizza.

[jazzactivist]

Hi tiggywinkle. The oven temperature should be pretty hot. Now I put it in the top oven of the Aga which has a temperature of about 240 degrees. It only goes in for about 15 minutes. In an electric oven I would put it in at about 200 degrees for about 20-25 mins, or in a Gas oven at Mark 6 for about 20 mins. There is no exact timing, but the trick is to get the tin that you are cooking it in hot before you put the dough in it and put it back in the oven. I check it after 10 mins to make sure that the cheese is melting and the other ingredients aren't getting too dry. If so turn the oven down a bit and shield the top with a sheet of foil. The good thing about the potato dough is that the main ingredient is already cooked, so you are just cooking the flour and egg really. Even if the base doesn't turn out quite as crispy as you would like it is still plenty edible!

[bonnie]

Am deff. going to give your pizza a go this week jazz.

[MrZebra]

I have made scone base pizzas (i.e. just flour and water basically, as I remember). They were great. I used to mix some curry powder into the dough for extra flavour. It's been many years since I've done that though.

[Oola]

Rich makes his own pizzas using proper italian flour, buffalo mozerella and fresh basil. They are DELICIOUS. To stop them going soggy, once he's cooked the pizza under the grill he places it on a makeshift hotplate (an upside down cast iron skillet thing over the hob) and places the pizza on there for a couple of minutes. Makes for a thin, crispy base, which is my favourite type of pizza.

[Rose]

My Mother's pizza base is foolproof
8oz flour
Teaspoon baking powder
Salt
Put all dry ingredient into a tupperware tub add 3 tablespoons of oil and about 300ml of hot water. Put well fitting lid on tub and shake till it is all mixed. Adjust hot water for correct consistency. Shake again if needed. Pat out to a round shape on a baking tin and add topping. It should come out like a soft scone mix.

[Crocus]

Hi Rose! I remember in the Tupperware heydays, there's was some kind of dough you could make and shake in one of the containers. I'm talking about 30 years ago. As far as I can remember it was a pastry dough, I think.

Your recipe above sounds very easy. Thanks! xx

[Rose]

Yes more like a hot crust pastry but my Ma used it as a pizza base. Yikes! It was at least 30 years ago that she made it.

[Crocus]

Hi Rose, was it a recipe which came with the tupperware tub perhaps? - because the recipe I mentioned above was given to us at a tupperware gathering together with a shaker type of container. It was also more or less 30 years ago. The hey days of tupperware.
The other day we browsed in a shopping mall, just before Christmas actually, and there was a display of all the latest and newest tupperware available. To be quite honest, I wasn't aware they still existed! xx