Homemade pizza

I think we've all bought the pizza dough from Sendiks and called it 'homemade' pizza before, and it's close enough when we lead busy lives but I tell you, it has NOTHING on this.  Spend a few minutes and make the dough yourself... just once, and you'll be so pleased you did. Maybe you wont do it every time but believe me, you'll enjoy the honest work of kneading and manipulating the dough and it really doesn't take as long as you probably imagine. It is about a 12min 'active' process and then you set and forget for about an hour.  It is a wonderful thing to do with kids as they will be so interested in how all the ingredients work together to make it 'grow'! My youngest daughter continued to say she doesn't like pizza and in America as you can imagine, that can be a problem sometimes.  We made this together and she chose her toppings (hence the simple bacon and cheese below - the arugula was merely for photographic blog effect!)... and she loved it!  They can get their hands dirty, better than playing with playdoh and then watch as the dough rises and grows.  It's pretty impressive.  A great weekend activity and with some yummy homemade tomato and basil pizza sauce, (that might be another day!) it will be divine!  Good enough to share with friends x

Makes 2-3 large family pizza's (or 4 plate sized)

Ingredients:

800g Strong bread flour

200g Semolina flour

30g active yeast or 3 x 7g dried yeast sachets

30g honey or sugar

30g salt

625ml tepid water

Method:

• Dissolve the yeast and sugar in half the tepid water and allow to activate (maybe 5mins)
• In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt.  Make a well in the middle and pour in all of the dissolved yeast mixture.
• Using your fingers, twist in a circular motion from the centre gradually incorporating flour until all the yeast is stirred in.
• The pour in the other half of the water and keep mixing until all the flour is combined and you have a rough moist dough.
• Turn the dough onto a clean lightly floured surface and begin to knead!
• Roll, push, fold and knead until the dough comes together as an elastic and smooth dough.  You should knead it for about 5mins to allow the gluten to develop.  Use more flour on your hands as you go when needed.
• Now make the dough into a rough round shape and place it on a lightly floured baking tray.  Lightly flour the surface of the dough as well and then score the top deeply with a knife so the dough can easily prove and rise.
• Place it in a dark, warm place until it has doubled in size. Depending on how warm it is, it should take about 45mins.  
• When the dough has risen, you can now divide your dough and roll it into your pizza bases.
• Add your pizza sauce and preferred toppings and when ready, pre-heat your oven to a good 450'F - 475'F (+240'C) and place your pizza on a pizza stone or directly on the racks and cook until the toppings have melted and the base is golden brown, about 10-12mins should be good.