Patrick's Pizza Party
Our friend Patrick makes, without doubt, the best pizza we’ve ever had. We go round to his place for an evening of catching-up over a glass (or two) of red wine and these fabulous pizzas. He tends to make them one by one so we all take a slice from each as they come straight out the oven – each with a different mix of toppings. His two main secrets are to age the dough for 2-3 days in the fridge and rolling it in semolina or polenta so the pizza is super crispy and delicious. This also makes for a fun family evening where everyone can get involved (especially with the kids now back at school!).
How To Make Patrick's Pizza Dough
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 tsp baking yeast
- 600g strong white flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 340ml water
- 1/2 lemon
- Ground polenta or semolina
For the sauce:
- 1 tin of good quality plum tomatoes (chopped)
- Salt & black pepper
- Oregano or thyme
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 clove garlic (crushed)
For the topping:
- Mozzarella
- Your choice of toppings
Method:
- If you have a bread maker or food mixer with a dough attachment, just throw all of the ingredients in and run it until you have a smooth springy dough. Go to step 7
- If making by hand, sieve the flour and salt on to a clean work surface and make a well in the middle
- In a jug, mix the yeast, olive oil and lemon juice into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well
- Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid
- Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your flour-dusted hands
- Knead until you have a smooth springy dough
- Divide the dough into four. Roll these balls in the semolina/polenta, transfer into cereal bowls, cover in cling film and transfer to the fridge. The dough will prove slowly, doubling in size. They will be best after 2-3 days
- If you cannot wait that long, just put them in a warm part of the kitchen, and they should prove in an hour or so
- For the sauce, bring to the boil and allow to cool
- Once ready to cook, turn your oven up as high as possible. Have your pizza stone already in the oven and put a ramekin of water in the bottom of the oven. The steam improves the quality of the pizza
- Stretch the dough out by hand using semolina/polenta and onto a pizza peel. There are good youtube videos on how to stretch pizza dough
- Put plenty of semolina/polenta on the peel underneath your dough so that the pizza will slide easily into the oven, onto your pizza stone
- Spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce on the dough. Top with mozzarella cheese (if it contains water, squeeze it out using your hand)
- Add the toppings of your choice and put in the oven
- The pizza will cook in 5-6 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is and how thinly you have stretched your pizzav