It’s Friday, and in our house that means it’s pizza night. There are no exceptions, no diets, that will disrupt the sacred pizza night.
Life’s about balance, and if I ordered ALL of the takeaway I wanted, all of the time I wanted it, I wouldn’t be able to get out of the door to collect it. This recipe for beautiful thin crust pizza though will absolutely satisfy those pizza cravings!
My recipe makes 4 bases, you can keep the dough in the fridge for an extra 2-3 days uncooked, or cook the bases & freeze for up to six months, with or without toppings.
The pepperoni I use comes in at 78cals for 5 pieces, but you can switch it for whatever toppings you like, just be mindful if you’re trying to hit a calorie/protein goal of how that changes the numbers below. I know that makes it slightly over for the ‘under 500 calorie’ label, but 10 calories isn’t something anyone needs to sweat!
Pizza
Ingredients
For the base
- 300 grams pizza flour (bread flour also works, plain is harder to stretch but is fine if it's all you can find)
- 1 packet yeast (or 7g if you've got a tub)
- 165 grams warm water
- a little extra flour for stretching
- 0.5 tsp salt
The sauce
- 500 grams tomato passata (everything other than this is optional but I think it gives great flavour)
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp paprika
- salt & pepper to taste
The toppings
- 25 grams mozzarella cheese
- 25 grams Cathedra City Lighter Cheddar Cheese
- 5 slices peperoni
- 10 jalapeños
Instructions
The base
- Mix your flour, water & yeast together with a little salt. Mix to combine well. If you have a mixer now's the time to use it to kneed! Or if you're feeling strong you can hand kneed it. If that all sounds like too much effort combine it as best you can.
- Cover the bowl with cling film, leave it on the counter for a couple of hours (or until it's almost doubled in size). If you didn't kneed the bread I'd recommend putting it in the fridge for 24 hours before using it, and letting it warm up for an hour on your counter before you use it. You can leave the dough in a bowl covered with clingfilm using any method for up to three days.
- Once your dough is ready to use, break it into equal pieces.* Lightly flour your surface & stretch the dough into a pizza(ish) shape, if this is too hard, flour a rolling pin to help!
- At this stage, I like to part bake my crusts on non-stick paper for 3-5 minutes (until they go brown) in the oven as hot as it will go. This makes the base firmer & reduces the chance it sticks to the paper when it's done, but you can skip this & head straight to topping! If you're freezing, cook the base first!
The sauce
- Throw everything in a pan, bring to a simmer & let reduce for about 10 minutes. Taste regularly & adjust the spices/seasoning to your preferences.
- Hot sauce on raw dough will make the dough too wet & it will stick to the paper it's on, either cool the sauce or cook the base!
The toppings
- Pre-heat your oven as hot as it will go (220-240c is great, or the pizza setting if you have a fancy oven).
- Put your base onto a baking tray lined with non-stick paper. Spread the sauce onto your pizza base, add cheese & your choice of toppings.
- Put the pizza into the oven to cook until the cheese is melty & a bit brown, this should take 6-12 minutes depending on how hot your oven is & if you pre-cooked the base.
Put onto a cutting board, slice your pizza & enjoy!
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @fit.foodiefuel on Instagram and hashtag it #fitfoodiefuel.