Pizza Dough Recipe: Because Pizzas Make Everybody Happy

I love pizza. I don't know anybody who dislikes a pizza and I don't want to know them if they do exist. Any kind of pizza is welcome. Mini pizzas on dry, doughy crust bought from Monginis for 10 bucks for a pack of two - welcome. If it's got some cheese on it. Some tomatoes, probably a few mushrooms. Crappy branded pizza chain pizzas are welcome too. And so are gourmet pizzas, churned out by experts with fancy, exotic ingredients. So now you know - pizza is generally a massively loved food choice.

But with all these years going by and tons of exposure to seriously awesome kinds of pizzas presents a vexing dilemma. Suddenly, anything less than a really good pizza can make you sick. Like when I spent almost the entire night sleeping outside my washroom because I ate two slices of a pizza that I later realised may have had rancid mushrooms. And eating doughy, weird crusts weigh you down and make you feel like you swallowed a tree.

So you make pizza. Simple. Your own way, and once you do, there is more or less no going back. Because it is that simple and it is that much fun. The dough is your canvas, the toppings are colours and you can get pretty creative with what you put on there.

I won't go into the whole topping discussion here but my favourites are usually those pizzas that are not a mela in your mouth - not more than five toppings, so you can recognise and admire each product. When I want a pizza, I don't want a khichdi. I usually stick to the following cheeses: sharp cheddar, fresh mozzarella, goat's cheese, Monterey Jack, Colby, feta. I pick black or pitted green olives. Corn, thinly sliced peppers, fresh rocket, basil, oregano. Caramelised onions, pan seared mushrooms. I mix and match. All my pizzas have a tomato passata (sauce for some) that I make fresh, right before the pizzas must be grill-baked.

But make your own. Just once. Because good pizza makes people seriously happy.

Name: Pizza Dough

Prep Time: 1 hour 20 mins

Cooking Time: 10-12 minutes per pizza

Recipe Source: Pizza Express

Serves: 4 medium thin crust pizzas so 2-3 people

You need:

224 gms maida

1 tsp salt

150 ml tepid / lukewarm water (not above 45C or you will kill the yeast)

1 tsp sugar

2 level tsp instant yeast

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Here's how you make it:

- Lightly oil a bowl. Sieve flour and salt into it. Keep aside.

- I know that most people just throw in the instant yeast coz it needs no time to activate but I still activate mine. So take yeast and sugar in a cup.

- Pour in mildly warm water. Mix gently and leave aside for ten minutes.

- Until it froths up.

- Pour the yeasty liquid into the flour. Oil your hands. Dig in and knead it out for 10-15 minutes. It will be ridiculously sticky. Use some extra flour for dusting to finish rolling.

- Here's the ball of ready dough. Neat. Note the size.

- Slap on some cling film to seal in the moisture. Now preheat an oven to 35-40C for ten minutes. Then turn it off but keep the light on. Put the bowl in and forget it for an hour.

- This is put dough after an hour. Say hello to happy, soft as a pillow dough.

- Punch the dough in with your knuckles to knock out the CO2. Gentle, please. Let it stand for another 10 minutes.

- Now lightly flour a rolling surface.

- Roll it out gently with a rolling pin. Or flip it from one palm to another, allowing gravity to stretch it gently out. If you are not confident doing this, jut stick to the rolling pin, there is no shame in it. What matters is the end result.

- Slap on the end result on a lightly greased pizza pan. Or stone if you have one. Or even a cookie sheet will do although I notice that metal or stone surfaces work best. This is your thin crust pizza dough. Slather on a bit of passata, add your toppings, some extra virgin olive oil, cheese and bake under the grill (both top and bottom functions) for 10-12 minutes at 180C. Stay happy.