Quick thin-crust pizza

Steve decided to make pizza for dinner yesterday. He googled a recipe as he usually does, and amazingly turned out two excellent pizzas less than an hour later. Almost as quick as a takeaway. We’ll definitely make this our default pizza recipe. It’s based on one from theKitchn, which I’ve converted from cup measures. There’s basically almost no rising time, apart from the time you spend preparing toppings. He did a selection: ham, mushrooms, and artichokes; prawns; and pear and gorgonzola, a favourite of ours (no tomato on this one). Baked on a pizza stone, but you can use a solid preheated baking tray turned upside-down.

Note: if you’re not in a hurry, you can let the dough rise till doubled, divide it in two, then put in sealed containers and refrigerate overnight. Give it 10-15 minutes to come to room temperature before shaping.

This makes two 25-cm pizzas.

180 ml lukewarm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
220 g plain white flour, plus more for kneading
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil

For the toppings: about 100 ml of passata, some mozzarella, a little parmesan, and whatever else you fancy.

Preheat the oven to 220C with the stone or baking tray in it. Sprinkle the yeast into the water and stir to blend (instant yeast doesn’t need dissolving). Add the flour and salt, stir to a shaggy mass, and then knead until the dough is smooth, a bit shiny, and springs back when poked. This will take 8-10 minutes by hand. You can do this in a stand mixer with a dough hook, in which case it will likely take less time. Cover the dough with a teatowel or an empty bowl and leave to rise while you prepare toppings.

Divide the dough into two equal pieces, then stretch or roll one of them into a round, working from the middle to the outside. If it starts to shrink back, you need to wait five minutes and try again.

To bake, take the stone/tray out of the oven and put it on a heatproof surface. Transfer the dough onto it (a pizza peel is not essential but makes it easier) and spread with a teaspoon of olive oil. Spread with a thin layer of passata, sprinkle on the torn-up mozzarella, and add other toppings. Return to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, till the edge of the crust is brown. Repeat with the second piece of dough.