Saturday 20 October 2012

2 in 1 Dough: Pizza/ Focaccia Base Dough

Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best and if it serves more than one purpose, well, you've hit the jackpot. That is what I felt when I got this recipe. And believe me when I say that the texture of this dough looks, feels and tastes totally different for a pizza and focaccia. The same dough used as a pizza base gives you a soft and chewy pizza base and whereas for focaccia it helps you to enjoy a base that is soft and chewy on the inside, yet slightly crusty on the outside.
Pizza dough - risen, knocked down and ready to be rolled out

Makes: 2 x medium crust pizza base or 4 x thin crust pizza base
Preparation Time: 10 minutes + time to prove dough
Cooking Time: Please see links below to use the base as focaccia and pizza base

Ingredients
  • 450g strong flour/ bread flour
  • 1 x 7g sachet dry yeast/ 2 tsp dry yeast
  • 1/2 tsp raw sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp lukewarm water (See notes)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
Method
1. In a bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar and 1 1/2 tbsp lukewarm water and leave it to foam and rise for a few seconds. Take care not to use hot water as this will kill the yeast.
2. In a large bowl, mix together strong flour and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour foamed yeast and  1 1/4 cup of lukewarm water and stir using a wooden spoon until well combined. Then use hands to knead the dough for 3 minutes. The dough starts off as slightly sticky but will become smooth at the end of kneading. Make sure that you work on all parts of the dough.
3. Place the dough in a bowl and turn it over to coat the surface with olive oil. This will prevent the dough from drying out. Cover loosely with slightly oiled plastic wrap and leave the dough to prove for 1 hr. The dough will double in size. (The ideal temperature for proving is room temperature/ 30 degree C. In winter days, I heat the oven to room temperature and leave the dough to prove and double in size).
4. Now the dough needs to be knocked down. Punch down the centre of the risen dough and knead for 30 seconds. Do not overwork the dough, or you will not get good results.


Use it as a pizza base or focaccia base.

To use this dough for a pizza click here - Pizza
To use this dough for focaccia click here - Focaccia

Note:- You can always replace bread flour with plain flour but reduce 1 1/2 tbsp lukewarm water from the total amount required for this recipe.
Focaccia Base

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