Day 16: Classic Homemade Margherita Pizza

After a painful 2-and-a-half hour trip to get the weekly food shop (don’t ask), we finally have all of the ingredients we need to make pizza! Hurray!

Day 16 Menu

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs and Baked Beans on Seeded Toast

Lunch: Fried Egg Sandwich with HP Brown Sauce (guilty pleasure)

Dinner: Classic Homemade Margherita Pizza (recipe below)

Classic Homemade Margherita Pizza Recipe
Original Recipe by Laura for A Beautiful Plate. Adapted by Our Whimsical World
Makes 2 10” pizzas

Ingredients:
• 320g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1tsp granulated sugar
• 10g fresh yeast dissolved in 170ml warm water (1/2 tsp of dried active yeast in the same volume of water would work just fine)
• ¾tsp table salt
• 1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
For the sauce:
• 1 can of Italian Plum Tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1tsp extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• pinch of table salt
For the topping:
• Cheddar cheese, grated
• Mozzarella cheese, cubed
• fresh basil leaves

Method:
1) Prepare Pizza Dough: Add the yeast, warm water and sugar to a bowl and allow the yeast to activate for 10 minutes. A foam should appear on the surface of the liquid when it’s ready to use. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, yeast mixture and olive oil, stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon until the dough just begins to come together. It will seem shaggy and dry, but that’s OK.
2) Scrape the dough onto a well-floured counter top and knead the dough for three minutes. It should quickly come together and begin to get sticky. Dust the dough with flour as needed – it should be slightly tacky, but should not be sticking to your worktop. After three minutes, the dough should be smooth, slightly elastic, and tacky. Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with olive oil, and place the dough into the bowl.
3) Cover the bowl with cling film and allow the dough to rise in a warm space for 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.
4) Preheat oven on the highest setting (ideally 230°c or higher).
5) As the oven is preheating, create the sauce by combining the tomatoes, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and seasoning in a blender, blending until smooth.
6) Set aside the cubed mozzarella cheese (pat with kitchen roll to remove any excess moisture). Set aside the basil leaves and grated cheddar cheese for easy assembly.
7) Separate the dough into two equal-sized portions. It will deflate slightly, but that is OK. Place the dough on a floured counter top, cover gently with cling film, and allow the dough to rest for a further 5-10 minutes.
8) Assemble the Pizza: Sprinkle a baking sheet with flour to prevent sticking. Gently stretch one ball of pizza dough into roughly a 10-inch circle. If the dough springs back or is too elastic, allow it to rest for an additional five minutes. The edges of the dough can be slightly thicker, but make sure the centre of the dough is thin (you should be able to see some light through it if you held it up). Gently transfer the dough onto the baking sheet.
9) Brush the dough lightly with olive oil. Using a large spoon, add some of the tomato sauce onto the pizza dough, leaving a ½-inch border all around. Use the back of the spoon to spread it evenly and thinly. Remember, you can always add more but it’s hard to remove if you put too much sauce on, and no-one wants a soggy bottom!
10) Sprinkle a tablespoon of Cheddar cheese onto the pizza sauce. Add half of the cubed mozzarella, distributing it evenly over the entire pizza. Sprinkle basil over the top. Now its ready for the oven!

11) Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the crust is starting to turn golden and the cheese is bubbling and caramelised.
12) Top with more Cheddar & fresh basil if you wish, slice & serve immediately. Buon Appetito!

Remember, we don’t currently use affiliate links or sponsored products, so everything we have mentioned is because we bought it and genuinely used it!

What is your go-to pizza topping? Have you tried replicating your favourite takeaway at home? Let us know in the comments!