Honeyed Pizza Dough

Friday 7 August 2015

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I love Pizza.  No if's and's or but's about it.   Pizza is one of my favourite foods, which is interesting when you consider that I had never even tasted pizza until I was about sixteen and a boyfriend of mine made us a Chef Boy Ardee pizza at our house.  It was love at first bite (the pizza not the boyfriend.)  Anyways, I have come a long way since then.  I no longer use boxed pizza kits.  I now prefer to make my own crust.


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My friend Monique had told me a while back about this fabulous crust recipe which she uses.  She got it from Willow Arlen who adapted it from a recipe by Jamie Oliver.  Today I decided to try it out and was I ever glad I did.   It was just wonderful!

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My oldest son used to work in a pizza place once upon a time and has taught me the tricks of the trade.  They had what they called a "Dimpler" which was a tool they ran over the crush after it was stretched out, cutting dimples into the crush, which helped it to rise evenly.   They also brushed their crusts with some garlic oil and dusted it lightly with parmesan and pre-baked them for a few minutes to set them prior to putting on the sauce and fillings, which is how I always do my pizzas now.  Believe it or  not it makes a difference!

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One of the reasons I made a pizza today was because the people at Cirio had sent me a tin of their Pizzassimo pizza sauce to try out.  I love the Cirio tinned tomatoes and I was really looking forward to trying their pizza sauce.  I normally make my own pizza sauce.  I've been making it for years and I have always really enjoyed it.

From the Cirio site:

Bursting with the taste of sun-ripened tomatoes, we very finely chop our finest tomatoes to produce a thick and creamy sauce that is complemented with a finely balanced blend of aromatic Mediterranean herbs: basil, oregano, marjoram and onion. The result is a perfect base to bring the taste of authentic Italian pizza to the table

How would it stack up against my own?

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Well, I am happy to say that it is really quite good for a tinned sauce!  I'm not surprised really.   The people at Cirio have  tinned tomatoes down to an art!  That is why whenever I want to make a sauce or a recipe where the tomatoes are the star I only use theirs.  No offense against the other brands, but  . . .  Cirio is the best in my opinion. ☺

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Because I really wanted to test out the flavour of the sauce, I made a simple Margherita Pizza, with only sauce and cheese on top.  Lovely jubbly.  It was FAB-U-LOUS!  Nothing but the truth and the whole truth, no word of a lie.

And the crust  . . .  wunnerful . . . wunnerful.  Thanks Monique!

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*Honeyed Pizza Dough*
Makes 3 medium crusts
A delicious pizza dough borrowed from Monique, who borrowed it from Willow, who borrowed it from Jamie Oliver.


300ml (1 1/4 cup) warm water (110-115 degrees F)
2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP honey
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (one 1/4 oz packet)
400g (about 2 1/2 cups) white bread flour, plus more for dusting
100g (about 1 cup) fine semolina flour
1 1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt
1 tsp. garlic powder 


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Measure the water, olive oil and honey into a bowl.  Whisk.  Sprinkle on the yeast and allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until frothy.


Whisk the the flour and semolina together in a large bowl with the salt and garlic powder.   Make a well in the centre.  Pour the  yeast mixture into the well and stir with a fork, slowly whisking in more flour from the edges of the bowl as youwork your way around.  Once the flour is almost completely incorporated, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kead for 8 to 10 minutes, using flour dusted hands, until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Oil a clean bowl.  Shape the dough into a ball and tip it into the clean bowl, turning to coat.  Cover loosely with a damp towel and set aside in a warm place for one to two hours until doubled in size.  Punch out as much air as possible.   The dough is now ready to use.  You may also store it in the refrigerator for several days, or divide and freeze (properly wrapped) for another day.


Note - If frozen, thaw the dough in the refrigerator the night before. When you are ready to use it, remove the dough from the refrigerator, and divide into balls (recipe makes enough for three to four medium pizzas). Once again, press as much air out of the dough as possible, then roll or stretch the dough into a circle.  Allow to stand for 10 to 15 minutes prior to topping and baking.



Many thanks to the people at Cirio for sending me this Pizzassimo sauce to try out!  Please note that although I was sent the sauce free of charge I was not required to write a positive review.  Two thumbs up!

6 comments

  1. I love pizza and this look amazing!!

    (All day I remember you dear send you loads of love) xoxo

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  2. It looks perfect!

    Guess what? We can buy that sauce in Little Italy here and we like it also!

    Unlike your KS mixer.Did you know they only work in Eurpe ..and are sold in Europe ?Amazon.com has it..but warns that it is for Euro use only..
    I thought it looked so powerful for a hnad mixer I had to look it up..you should see my hand mixer..lowest speed blows everything out of the bowl.I have to put my bowl in the sink.

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    Replies
    1. Oh dear Monique! What a shame! My KS mixer is fabulous. The only thing it doesn't let me do is walk away and do something else when it is beating stuff up. But it's an excellent mixer and so powerful. I wish you could get it. Yay on the sauce! I love Cirio anything! oxox

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  3. Gotta ask.....what is a KS mxer??

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  4. Hi Paulette, it's an electric Kenwood Hand Mixer/whisk. It's really powerful, probably one of the most powerful hand mixers you can buy. I just love mine! You can read all about mine in the folder you see up on top of my page entitled Couldn't Live Without!

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