These babies may have talked the talk, but they didn’t quite walk the walk. I’ve been thinking about making pizzas from scratch, including the bases, for a while now, but have continued to use bought bases and just made the toppings myself. I certainly have a way to go in getting near even the bought bases, let alone a decent pizza base.

 

I went against not only other people’s advice, but my own, in trying to take a short cut, especially seeing as I have very little experience in pastry and dough making (most pizza base recipes say to knead for 15 mins, then leave for an hour before kneading again). I also thought I’d be able to make the bases without a recipe, just by feel, as after all, it’s only flour and water. I was wrong.

 

My first attempt at making the dough, with olive oil, flour and water, consisted of just pouring olive oil and water into a pile of flour, until I got a dough consistency. When I tried to roll dough out, however, it just fell apart. It was then I thought I’d better take a look at a recipe (one in Jamie Oliver’s Italy book) to give me some guidance. One thing I didn’t have was yeast, which most recipes I’ve noticed since, include. This is probably a key ingredient. I also discovered I needed to add a lot more water and knead for a lot longer.

 

I did achieve the right kind of stretchy consistency, but on baking, the bases were more biscuit than pizza base. The ‘Mrs’ didn’t really mind too much, but I know I have a way to go before perfecting this one. The toppings were chorizo, mushroom, basil and mozzarella, FYI. The one on the right didn’t have any cheese deliberately, as the ‘Mrs’ doesn’t like it.