I baked: Homemade Pizza

My first attempt at making pizza, and thankfully it turned out well! The fresh bread dough is not difficult to make and you can put any toppings you like once you get the pizza base right. Love the lovely thin, crispy crust.

Homemade thin crust pizza 

Homemade Pizza

Preparation time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Serves 4

For the pizza dough

175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp salt

1 tsp easy blend dried yeast

6 tbsp warm water

1 tbsp olive oil

For the topping

400g can tomatoes, chopped

2 garlic cloves, diced

2 tsp dried basil

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp tomato puree

4 onions, sliced into rings

50g ham, diced

50g salami, diced

100g mozarella cheese

35g Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground salt and pepper

1. To make the pizza dough, sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and add the yeast.

2. Pour in the water and olive oil and mix to a dough. Knead for 5 minutes on a floured work surface, then return the dough to the bowl, cover with an oiled sheet of clingfilm and leave to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

3. Knead the dough for 2 minutes. Stretch it with your hands/rolling pin and then place it on an oiled baking tray. The dough should not be more than 5mm thick as it will rise during cooking.

4. To make the topping, fry the onion and garlic with the oil in a large frying pan. Then, add the tomatoes, tomato puree, ham, salami and basil and simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes or until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and leave to cool slightly.

5. Preheat oven to 200°C.

6. Spread the topping evenly over the pizza base and top with the mozarella and Parmesan cheeses.

7. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until golden.

8. Serve with a soup, or salad of choice.

*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's Facebook page on 10 August 2012.