It's pizza time!

Finally! Spring is in the air! The sun is up high and is there a better excuse for a weekend filled with fresh flowers on the balcony, dinner with friends and dancing!? The best base for some great cocktails and long nights is obvious: pizza, pizza, pizza. And luckily, a new colleague of mine, a fellow foodie, shared his perfect pizza crust recipe with me the week before. A foodie always knows her mates. It’s that slightly judging look into your lunchbox and some kind of the following question: “Is that with thyme?” You nod expectantly. “You know, this would go great with some crushed walnuts on top!” And off, off you’ll go into a half hour discussion about the most exciting ways to eat rice. Or in my case, how the secret to the perfect pizza crust is bottled water. No kidding. We foodies are like that. Hope you had a great weekend!

Ingredients

375g all-purpose flour
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
250 ml warm(ish) bottled water
2 tbsp. olive oil

This recipe is sufficient for 4 normal sized pizzas. You start of by sifting the dry ingredients together, pouring in the water, knead, and let rise at a warm place for 30 minutes. While you wait, preheat the oven AND the baking trays to 220°C. Now, with some force behind it, you knead in the oil for about 4-5 minutes. Cut the dough into 4 parts and roll and pull out the roundest pizza shape you can manage.

Put the pizza on the baking trey (I used the round bottoms of my spring forms) and spread on the tomato sauce (canned tomatoes, one garlic glove finely cut, salt, pepper and a tbsp. honey, cooked on low heat for 30 min.) and put on every topping you desire. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. 

  
I love me some fresh garlic spinach, ricotta and pancetta but you might be more of a minimalist,  going for cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and parmigiano? Any way you love, is great. Except maybe pineapple and cooked ham. That almost gave my Italian friend a heart attack once.