how to make really tasty pizza dough for the everyman

Ingredients

sugar: 1 tbsp

hot water (not boiling or you’ll burn the yeast) 1 1/3 cup

yeast 2 1/4 tsp

3.5 cups of all-purpose flour

1tsp salt

2tsp oil

method

1. Activate yeast:
   • Get your mixer (like a Kenwood mixer with dough hook) bowl.
   • Pour in 1tbsp of sugar.
   • Add 1/3 cup of hot water.
   • Mix it together until the sugar dissolves.
   • Sprinkle the 2 1/4 tsp of yeast on top and then mix a bit with a wooden spoon.
   • Cover with a tea towel and leave somewhere warm for 15mins.
2. After you come back to it, if it’s not a big frothy mixture it didn’t work.
3. Add 3 cups of flour.
4. Add 1tsp of salt and 1tsp of oil.
5. Beat in mixer on level 2 or low level for 2 mins with your dough hook and add the last 1 cup of hot water gradually.
6. You shouldn’t need more flour, but you can add 1/2 cup if it’s too sticky.
7. Turn up to med high or 8, or knead by hand, for 5 mins.
8. Take it out and put your last tsp of oil in the bowl, then wipe it around with a brush.
9. Put the dough in the bowl and cover with a tea towel again and leave somewhere warm, to rise for 45mins.
10. Preheat oven to 246 degrees C for 15mins while dough is left to further rise.
11. The dough should rise, it will be obvious that it’s puffed up and light looking.
12. When oven is preheated after the 15mins, punch the dough softly and leave for another 5mins.
13. Put the dough in a greaseproof tin or two and spread it out, letting it hang from your fingers in the thick parts can help stretch it, (you can throw it around, but don’t drop it on the floor) fill any holes with fatter bits.
14. Stretch the dough into the tin/s.
15. Spread on tom paste and ingredients – cheese, meat, pineapple, sundried tomato, oregano etc.
16. When it’s nearly dinner time, cook for 10mins.