A thing of beauty is......a home made pizza!

I love a good pizza, but it is one of those extremely addictive foods that should be eaten in extreme moderation! especially when store or restaurant bought, because honestly, you really have no idea what went into it! From processed plastic cheese toppings to doughy bases made with flour so refined there's little nutrition remaining, to sauces and meats that are loaded with salts sugars, additives and chemical coloring's.

So how do we make our beloved pizza more 'body' friendly so we can enjoy it more often.....the answer is to make your own, and making a home made pizza is as easy as pie......pizza pie!

Using a home made dough base topped with a tomato sauce of your own making, lots fresh vegetables and good quality cheese in sensible amounts of course, a pizza can be a complete and very nutritious meal!

You will need.......feeds 6-8 people great of your kids have friends round!

For the dough base.......

400 g organic strong bread flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

7 g or 1 sachet of dried yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

200 - 220 mls hand hot water

some of my Cheats Tomato Sauce.....see recipe HERE! 

Some good quality buffalo mozzarella or medium strength cheddar cheese or try a mix of both...Yum! I like it with goats cheese too, also very tasty with a smoked cheese!

Fresh vegetables of your choice, olives, herbs, salami or other quality sausage or cooked meat like chicken....whatever you like yourself

• add the sugar and yeast to the water and blend well, set aside in a warm place for a few minutes so the yeast activates
• weigh the flour and add the salt and olive oil, using the dough hook attachment, mix on medium speed for a minute
• slowly add the water/yeast to the flour and continue mixing on medium speed until the water is incorporated and a dough begins to form
• if you think the dough is a little dry you can add a touch more warm water, continue mixing until a smooth dough forms and it comes away from the sides of the bowl leaving it clean
• remove the dough from the mixer bowl, scatter a little flour on your counter top and knead the dough into a nice ball shape
• now cover the dough ball with the mixing bowl and leave for approx 20 minutes
• while the dough is rising you can prepare whatever vegetables you want to have on your pizza, I personally love peppers and red onion, baby tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes and artichokes
• grate or slice the cheese that you will use on the pizza
• when the dough has risen you can roll it out as a rectangle or a round
• lay your rolled dough on a non stick baking sheet
• let it sit for another 10 minutes or so to puff up a little again
• turn on the oven 200oC
• spread a few spoonfuls of the tomato sauce over the dough but not too much, too much sauce makes a soggy dough! 
• decorate in your own artistic fashion with vegetables, cheese and meats, you can divide it up to cater for different tastes, have a child friendly side for example.
• bake your pizza in the hot oven until the crust is crisp and the cheese is golden
• enjoy the fruits of your labors!

This dough could be frozen as a sheet or a dough ball, you can even freeze the whole pizza and cook from frozen, just make sure you wrap it well for the freezer!

I would love to see all your artistic pizzas....you can post pictures to my twitter feed or to my facebook page....buon appetito!