This week was the dreaded bread week. I think the contestants really felt the pressure this episode, especially under the watchful eye of Paul Hollywood. The challenges of bread week appeared to make judging difficult but a massive congratulations to Tasha for her second star baker in a row – it was well deserved! However, it was an emotional goodbye to Abi, she was such a lovely character in the tent and will definitely be missed next week!
Despite the bakers’ struggling this week, making bread doesn’t have to be daunting, and by following this easy pizza recipe, I hope to help you perfect your bread-making skills!
I have been making this pizza dough for several years now and it is a solid favourite. It serves 4 so it can be great to get your housemates involved and you can make a delicious dinner together! My version of this recipe does require a sourdough starter, which is really simple to make and adds a lovely tangy flavour to your breads. I have attached my favourite recipe here to help you get started. Prior to making the pizza, I recommend feeding your sourdough a day or two before and leaving it on the side in the kitchen to ‘wake up’ the bacteria required to help the dough rise. However, as this recipe also uses yeast this is not essential, just make sure you feed your sourdough before you start cooking.
Ingredients:
- 225g Strong Wholemeal Flour
- 150g White Spelt Flour
- 11g Yeast
- 300g Sourdough Starter
- 1.5 tbsp Honey
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- A Pinch of Salt
- Strong White Flour (for dusting)
- Tomato Sauce, Cheese and Pizza Toppings
Method:
- Grease 4 pizza trays with oil using kitchen roll and sprinkle the bases with strong white flour to stop the dough from sticking.
- Start by combining the flours, yeast and salt.
- Add the sourdough starter and honey to the dry ingredients and mix. If you have a stand mixer available then using the dough hook works really well for this, but if not, using a metal spoon is also fine.
- Slowly add some warm water to the bowl until the mixture forms a pliable dough. If you are not using a stand mixer, I recommend using your hands to bring the ingredients together.
- Dust a dry, clean surface with strong white flour and knead for 8 minutes to work the gluten.
- Cut the dough into quarters, rolling each quarter into a ball.
- Roll out each ball individually using a rolling pin and place on a pizza trays.
- Leave the dough to prove for 20 minutes while you prepare your toppings.
- Preheat the oven to 180⁰C
- Once the dough has proved, spread the tomato sauce over the dough and add the cheese and toppings.
- Cook the pizza in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and the bread in golden.