Homemade Pizza has got to be everybody’s favourite homemade comfort food. No? Well, it’s mine…hehehe. I love playing around with Homemade Pizza and I particularly love it cos there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to toppings. Everything goes!

This recipe is for 16 inch Pizza. You may wish to divide the dough into two trays so you can make two different pizzas if you haven’t got a 16 inch tray. You do not have to use same toppings as I did, like I said earlier, with Homemade Pizza, everything goes. You may use Sweet corn, Pepperoni, Sausage, Pineapple, Beef, Tomato, Ham… Your fridge is your oyster!

 

For the chicken, you may wish to make a Nigerian style Pizza by using Suya Spice  for the marination. You also have the option of using Cajun seasoning if you can source Yaji. I provided alternatives to save difficulty in sourcing ingredients.

If you haven’t got Mozarella, you can use Cheddar or a mixture of both. Though Mozarella is more appropriate…

Ingredients:

For The Dough

250g All Purpose Flour

1 Teaspoon Dry Yeast

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

3/4 Cup Warm Water

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Italian Herbs (Optional)

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder ( Optional)

For the Sauce

3 Medium Tomatoes or 1/2 Can Plum Tomatoes

1/2 Red Bell Pepper

1 Carrot

1/2 Onion

4 Garlic Cloves

1 Teaspoon Paprika or Dried Pepper Powder

1 Teaspoon Chopped Basil or Dried Basil (Optional)

1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano (Optional)

1 Tablespoon Sugar (Optional)

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

For “My” Toppings: Quantities As desired!

 

Diced Chicken Breast

Mushrooms

Bacon

Black Olives

Onions

Mozzarella Cheese

Red & Green Pepper

Preparation:

Firstly, marinate the Chicken with 1 Tablespoon Suya Spice or Cajun Seasoning. If you haven’t got any of these two, you can just use 1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper, 1 Knorr Chicken Cube and 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder. Marinate for 15 minutes…

Them pour some Olive into a frying pan, place on medium heat. When it’s hot, add and fry the Chicken till golden brown, then remove Chicken from the pan and set aside…

Into the same pan, add the Mushrooms, if you’re using any, sauté for 2 minutes, set aside. Set aside..

Pour the Water and Sugar into a large bowl, mix till sugar dissolves. Add the Yeast and leave to activate, this should take roughly ten minutes.

For faster activation, place in a warm place….

When it’s activated, add the Olive Oil, then the Salt. Also, sift the flour into the bowl, then add the Italian herbs and Garlic Powder, mix to form a dough. If you’re using a stand mixer, knead for about a minute. If you’re mixing by hand, mix for 2-3 minutes. Add little quantity of flour to prevent sticking, if your dough comes out sticky. Place the dough into a pre-oiled bowl, you can oil with Olive oil. Oil the top of the dough lightly as well, then cover with cling film and a damp towel.

Place the dough in a warm place to rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size. You can place in your oven. Place a couple of cups of hot water on a lower rack, this will help with the fermentation.

While we’re waiting on the dough to rise, let’s prepare the Sauce!

Add the Tomatoes, Bell Pepper, Chopped Carrots, Onions and Garlic into a saucepan. Place on medium heat and boil for 10-12 minutes, stir occasionally to prevent burning…

When it’s boiled, pour into a blender and blend till smooth. Pour into a bowl, then add the Paprika, Basil, Oregano, Sugar and Salt. Mix together and leave to completely cool…

Check on the dough, when it’s risen, take the dough out of the bowl, punch to remove the excess air. Sprinkle some corn meal on your pizza tray, this is to prevent sticking, if you haven’t got corn meal, oil or butter will do. Spread the dough out onto your pizza tray.

Remember this dough quantity is for 16 inch Pizza. If you haven’t got a 16 inch tray, try dividing into smaller trays…

Preheat your oven to 230 degrees Celsius at this time! 

Add some of the sauce to the dough; using the back of a spoon, spread evenly on the dough. Do not cover with the sauce completely, leave at least half an inch space on the dough…

Then top with Mozarella. Ensure the Cheese covers up the entire sauce. I didn’t want to add too much cheese so I didn’t bother following the rule here….

Then add and arrange your toppings. I’m using the Sautéed Mushrooms, Fried Chicken, Bacon, Red and Green Peppers and Black Olives.

Be careful not to add too much toppings especially wet toppings as this will interfere with (delay)the cooking process in the oven. 

You may choose to top it up with more Mozarella Cheese…

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown…

And your Homemade Pizza is ready!

Enjoy!

 

Will be waiting to hear from you when you’ve had a chance to replicate this easy Homemade Pizza recipe. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. See you in my next recipe!