Toss it higher and make it round -

I don't know if it is normal for everyone. For me when it comes to making dinner, am always annoyed because firstly, I have absolutely no idea what to cook and secondly, I hate eating outside. SO am back to square one standing in front of my refrigerator contemplating what can I make out of the freezer's 'occupants'. While I was busy looking around I realised I haven't done anything with the Italian lamb sausage I bought in March 2013! Yes you read it right, MARCH! Fingers crossed and phew! luckily the sausage was not expired or anything worst - like probably have something green and fuzzy on it. Yuckies!

When I saw sausages I was thinking of puy lentils so I went to see if I have some in the pantry. Sadly none of its kind in my keeping. Ergo I opened back the freezer door and stared at its 'occupants' again. Mr. S has been asking for me to make calzone but I don't have the cheeses needed to make one. But I do feel like bashing something today. Therefore c'est le jour de pizza aujourd'hui ! People keep telling me it is hard to make a nice pizza crust and all, but I think that is just wrong. Dead wrong. You have absolutely no idea how easy it is. You don't need to have Kitchen Aid to make the dough. You just need your hands and fists. Haha.

Making pizza dough is very inexpensive. Trust me. All you need:

Makes about 2 12inches pizza

1 tablespoon  active dry yeast

 1 1/2 cups warm water

3 1/2 cups plain flour (you can substitute with whole wheat flour, if you fancy)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

A pinch of salt 

Now that wasn't so bad was it? First thing first. 

1. Make sure your water is warm and not too hot when you add the active dry yeast. You don't want the hot water to kill your yeast else your dough wont rise. Set aside until the yeast starts forming bubbles in about 3-5 minutes.
2. Sift the flour (any unbleached plain flour will do) and make a well in the center. Pour the yeast mixture into your well together with a pinch of salt and extra virgin olive oil.
3. You can either mix with your hand or using a spatula, drawing the ingredients together. You will know that it is ready to be kneaded when you're having trouble to move your spatula through the dough. 
4. Prepare your work surface. Make sure it is clean and dry. Flour the surface to avoid dough sticking to it when kneading. Otherwise, if you do not wish to knead the dough directly on your table or work surface, you can always line it with parchment paper sprinkled with flour. Frankly, it is actually easy to clean the mess later with some warm, soapy water once you're done. 
5. Turn the dough onto your work surface. You should have a loose, sticky ball. It is time for bashing and kneading! (my personal favourite)
6. Wash your hands and dry them. Make sure you have no jewelry. Lightly dust your hands with flour to keep it from sticking too much. Form the dough into a ball and punch the dough. Kneading is EASY! Press the heels of your hands into the dough, pushing it forward slightly. Punching helps the gluten start working. Continue until the dough is slightly springy.
7. To know when to stop kneading, shape the dough into a ball and let it drop on your work surface. The dough is ready if it holds its shape.
8. Spread a little bit of olive oil inside a bowl and transfer the dough into the bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth and set aside for approximately 2 hours until it doubles in volume. You will need a warm temperature (24-26°C) room for it to properly rises. 
9. When the dough has doubled, punch it down to eliminates the air bubbles. Split the dough equally and on a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. Use your hand and shape it to your pizza pan. 

Toppings can be anything that you like really! For dinner tonight I made a combinations of tomatoes, onion, cheese, Italian lamb sausages, and thyme. Layer tomato paste or if you are like me, I cheated and uses ready  made spaghetti sauces instead. You know a Ragu or Dolmio or Prego - whichever you like. They do have readymade pizza sauce but I usually prefer Ragu's chunky tomatoes and mushrooms spaghetti sauce. Then layer your thinly sliced ingredients onto your dough and off it go into your preheated oven. Oh don't forget to top it with your favourite cheese! Bake it for about 10-15 minutes (220°C) until the crust is golden all around. 

Reason why I said thinly sliced ingredients is because your pizza should stay in the oven for the shortest time possible to prevent it from drying too much and you ended with crunchy biscuit instead. 

And voilà! There you have it. Simple right. You don't need Dominos after this. Go ahead and try any toppings. Go crazy. I still have one batch left (from earlier dough) for tomorrow. Am making breakfast pizza with streaky beef bacon and eggs and cheese. Hot pizza in the morning. Yummieh!

Bon appetit!