Simple and Basic Pizza Dough (and a simple sauce to match!)
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Ok. Serious question. Who doesn’t like pizza? I can understand that the concept of toppings can be a very personal matter. You have meat options, sauce options, plain, loaded, vegan, meat lovers’ heaven, fresh, crunchy, mushy, salty and tart!
But the concept of dough as the base, sauce as the medium and toppings as the finishing and arguably most important touch, remains the same. 3 things: dough – sauce – toppings. Simple, adored, worshipped.
Now this pizza dough may not win any gold medals. But it is easy, tasty and fun to make! And it will win a gold star with your family because what is better than homemade pizza, notably when everyone can add their own toppings, then anxiously wait for it to cook. Especially while sipping a nice glass of red. Or chocolate milk. Or fresh juice. You get my drift.
Disclaimer: I’m generally all about gluten-free alternatives, but this particular dough won’t work by swapping regular flour for gluten-free flour.
If you’re looking for gluten-free pizza dough, you can check out my Instagram page, stay tuned on my website, or just do a search online; you will not come up short of excellent options.
As you will see above, the toppings are completely interchangeable. This is where you get to make it your own! Overload it, keep it simple.. go nuts! I like to have a variety of flavours on my pizza but that’s just me!
The dough however requires a recipe, and the yeast of course, that is if you want it to rise in order to get that chewy, soft-on-the-inside, yet crunchy-on-the-outside texture.
White flour (always use unbleached) is the easiest to use and globally appreciated but feel free to substitute 1 cup with whole wheat flour for a heartier texture.
The sauce is specifically made to be As. Easy. As. It. Gets! If you have homemade tomato sauce on hand, use it, but I suggest adding a little tomato paste to thicken it, particularly if it’s very runny.
Adding a few simple flavour enhancers in your sauce (such as minced garlic, oregano, onion powder, thyme) will make the taste bolder but it’s absolutely not necessary.
If you’re into less conventional pizza flavours, using pesto as a base sauce is wonderful and pairs well with almost any topping!
I’m a big advocate of removing the stigma around pizza being an unhealthy, borderline junk food, as well as the belief that homemade pizza is a daunting day-long task. Yes, you need to let your dough rise (if you don’t, you will still get an edible pizza, but it’s much better if you DO) and yes, that could take about 2 hours. But heaven knows there are countless other things you can do while that takes place, since *fun fact* you actually don’t need to watch your dough rise, unless you are a weirdo like me!
So mix up the flour, water and yeast, knead for 5 minutes, and go about your to-do’s. You can even go grocery shopping and return 3 hours later to a puffy dough baby!
Rolling the dough into a pizza shape takes another 5-7 minutes and then you’re on to the fun finishing touches.
Point being – pizza is not a difficult or time-consuming meal, but most of us are not used to it and have it built up as something BIG in our heads. Hmmm I guess that’s like a lot of things in life, right?
So let’s take a page out of pizza’s book and open our minds to the fact that many things in life are nowhere near as difficult or daunting as they seem; it’s all in our head! Best of all? You may even surprise yourself and have fun while you’re in the process!
Instructions
Pre-heat your oven at 500 F.
Stir all your sauce ingredients in a small bowl. No heating needed! All spices are optional but they add a lot of flavour. You can also add thyme, garlic or minced onion.
Once your dough is rolled out and placed on a baking sheet with parchment paper, start the fun part!
Spread your sauce on your pizza (as thick or thin as you like)**
Next spread the cheese around and go close to the edge, I like to leave about ½ inch. Then add your toppings.
Bake pizza for about 20 – 25 minutes.
As soon as you remove from the oven, add any fresh greens such as arugula or basil, and drizzle with a little olive oil.
Let cool for a few minutes and slice into triangles or squares.
Enjoy!
**Option to use pesto instead of tomato sauce. I love the flavour combination of pesto, broccoli and anchovies on a pizza!
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups white flour
2 packages dry yeast (about 4 ½ tsp)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp oil of choice (I use olive oil)
1 cup water
Instructions for Dough:
Combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add the oil and water and stir with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Once dough starts to come together, knead by hand for 5 minutes. Kneading the dough by hand brings out the flavour!
Shape the dough into a ball, place in a bowl lightly coated with oil so the dough doesn’t stick and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place (not somewhere that is cool or that has a draft) and let rise until double in size, approximately 2 hours.
Punch down, knead again for a few seconds and roll out on a floured surface with rolling pin.
This dough makes one very large pizza, or 2 medium pizzas.
Ingredients for Sauce:
1 cup tomato sauce from a jar or can**
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
½ tsp black pepper
2½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
**Option to use half a cup tomato puree and ½ cup tomato sauce, or for a more potent sauce, use only tomato puree and add your spices.
Toppings:
Top the pizza with your favourite ingredients. Some of my favourites include:
Lightly grilled zucchini
Sun-dried tomato
Pre steamed or roasted broccoli
Anchovies
2Thinly sliced purple potato or sweet potato (pre-cooked)
Pine Nuts
Arugula, basil or spinach (best added after your pizza is cooked)
Cheese of your choice, such as mozzarella, parmesan or vegan cheese sauce
It’s a great opportunity to use up any leftovers!
