I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect thin, light and crispy pizza base and I think I’ve found it. Since cutting out processed food and additives from my diet I’ve found the dietary constraints rarely bother me but over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had a real craving for a crispy prosciutto pizza so I went on the hunt for a great base recipe.
Whether or not it’s perfect no doubt depends on how you like your pizza but for me, I like a relatively thin and crispy base; the fad for pan pizza, or heaven forbid ‘stuffed crust’ just doesn’t do it for me.
So a bit of Googling later and semolina flour seems to be the key. This recipe makes 4 medium crusts so I roughly divide the recipe into four if it’s just the two of us.
Another option is to make the full recipe and wrap any additional serves of dough firmly in cling wrap then into an airtight bag and freeze them at the end of step 6. Then when you need a quick dinner simply pull it from the freezer to defrost and roll it out into a delicious base.
It makes a good quick crowd-pleaser with some varied toppings to suit all tastes.
What do you need
- 400g flour
- 100g fine semolina
- 2t salt
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 3 teaspoons (t) dried yeast
- 3 tablespoons (T) olive oil
Putting it all together
- Combine the flour, semolina and salt in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
- In a small jug dissolve the yeast and oil in the water mix until combined. Allow to sit for a few minutes.
- Add the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and combine. I use a dough scraper to do this bit but your hands or a wooden spoon will also work.
- Once it forms together take it out to a pastry mat or clean bench and knead it until it forms a smooth and elastic ball of dough
- Place it back into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with towels. Leave it to rise for 30-90 minutes. The time will depend on the temperature of the day and a little on how late you’re running getting tea on the table.
- Divide into 4 portions and kneed for 10-15 minutes until really elastic.
- Use a combination of rolling and stretching and your best approximation at pizza tossing to stretch it out to roughly fit your pizza crisping pan.
The Finishing Touches
You can top these pizzas with anything you like but I like a very light brush with olive oil, a little crushed garlic, some passata if I have any open in the fridge, some torn fresh bocconcini and small spoons of homemade pesto dabbed around. I make my pesto with whatever herb is currently going mad, basil, coriander and parsley all work fine.
Bake at 230c for 12-15 minutes.
Once removed from oven top with prosciutto, spinach and/or fresh soft herbs. Delicious.
What ‘fast food’ do you prefer to make from scratch?