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Versatile Pizza base recipe.

One of my grand daughters has been told to avoid wheat and dairy pending specialist testing. She reacts to "shop-bought" bread and pizzas, but not to my home-made bread. She loves pizza, so this was my first attempt - it was declared delicious and produced no unwanted "reaction".

Ingredients:

200g white bread flour (Type 704)
200g OO (Italian) flour (Type 118) – or at a pinch you can use ordinary plain flour
1 teaspoon dried yeast
½ teaspoon salt
275 ml warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse flour (rye or semolina) for dusting

Method

If not using Instant yeast, make “a starter” using the yeast, the water and a pinch of sugar. Leave until bubbling.

Mix flours, salt, yeast and water in a large bowl to form a sticky dough, adding oil until it becomes “workable”. Turn out onto a board and knead. Some say flour the board for kneading but I sometimes use small amounts of olive oil. Knead and stretch well (usually at least 10 minutes) until you have a smooth and silky dough

Oil your bowl and return dough to it, covering with clingfilm. Leave until at least doubled in size.

Turn your oven up as high as it will go. I have a pizza stone for all my bread, and use that even if I’m baking in tins or on a tray.

Once the dough has doubled in size, turn out onto a floured surface and knock back to get all the air bubbles out. Roll into a ball

Now dust your surface with coarse flour. Take a lime-sized chunk of dough and roll it into a very thin, flat round (or other shape of choice). If you have a peel then this can be dusted otherwise sprinkle some coarse flour or semolina on to a flat baking tray and transfer your “pizza” on to it.
If baking “blind” for freezing prick all over with a fork and put straight into the oven. Cook for 3 minutes or until the top starts to colour. This makes about 8 pizzas.

If freezing, allow to cool and interleave with greaseproof paper and place in a polythene freezer bag. These can be used straight from the freezer.

Alternatively if making a “finished” pizza, add toppings of your choice and bake for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling. With my grand daughter's allergies a topping of passata, hard goat's cheese or buffalo mozzarella, ham and sweetcorn is favourite.