Make this super delicious Pizza Margherita at home with a copycat Dominos recipe for Pizza Dough.
Sometime around when I was 16 – 17 years old, was when I probably had my first Pizza ever in my life. It used to an exotic and a premium food to look out for. When my parents relocated to Chennai – a place in the South of India, just after my 10th Std was when my exploration began. The peer group makes a lot of transformation in a person that one totally learns to adapt the new ways – Good and Bad.
Exploring new food in different cuisines has just begun. Each birthday party since then was hanging out either at the theatre or treat at one of the muti cuisine restaurants. There was so much beyond Nan with Paneer Butter Masala and Masala Dosa !!!
But kids of today begin their exploration from Pizza and Pasta straight away. In fact, understanding and enjoying the traditional food is kind of becoming a rare affair. Talk to them about the Italian joints and the available delicacies, it will be in their fingertips as to what toppings goes best and what dip to accompany. Sometimes I am stunned.
It was yesterday I asked my Lil missy, who just turned three – “What would you like for breakfast ?” She takes a little pause and replies – ” Amma, feed me anything you want me to have “. It took me a little while to understand and acknowledge to her.. All that I told her was ” I am going to feed you with Tickles and Kisses!! “. This is such an adorable age where they know a lot of things but do not as well. As a mother, I prefer to give the kids at least 2 positive choices in their meals and other activities so they could decide between them. This gives them a sense of decision making, rather than thrusting my choices on them.
The kids love their pizza’s as much as anything and the moment they realised we are going to have it made from scratch, they were overjoyed. They kept monitoring every stage, right from dough making to resting, doubling and baking them in a Pizza Stone. Missy just walked up to me saying – ” I want lots of Pineapples on my Pizza – Ok? ”
Mummy at their disposal made topping just as they would enjoy with some ketchup and a drink of their choice to pair.
Thoroughly enjoyed the simple flavours from home and the fact that there is no synthetics in the whole process adds more delight.
The Pizza dough has a slightly crispy pizza base, just like the Domino’s Pizza. This is achieved by using Semolina to roll, apart from adding in the dough.
Here’s a simple recipe to the delicious Pizza Margherita.
Ingredients
- 3 ½ Cup Plain Flour or All Purpose Flour
- 2¼ tsp or 7g Fast Acting Instant Yeast
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 Tbsp Sugar
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 ⅓ Cup Warm Water
- Semolina for rolling
Pizza Topping
- 1 Cup Pizza Sauce
- 2 Cup Mozzarella cheese
- 20 g Basil leaves
- Salt & Pepper as needed
Instructions
STEP 1 - KNEAD THE DOUGH
- Add flour, salt, sugar, yeast, baking powder to the mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Add water in 2 instances and stir to combine to a rough shaggy dough with a silicone spatula.
- Knead the dough using a stand mixer until well combined.
- Add the 2 tbsp olive oil to the dough and knead for another 2 minutes until well incorporated.
- Alternatively to knead by hand, add all the ingredients in a bowl and knead until soft. This can take up to 20 minutes.
STEP 2 -HOW TO PROOF THE DOUGH ?
- Grease a large bowl and transfer the kneaded dough to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or damp towel. Allow the it rise for 1 - 1 1/2 hours at room temperature or until it doubles the size.
- Remove the cling film/ plastic wrap. Deflate the dough by punching down lightly.
HOW TO PROOF DOUGH IN INSTANT POT?
- Grease the Inner Pot of the Instant Pot with remaining 1 tbsp oil.
- Place the dough in the greased pot. Cover the dough with glass lid.
- Select the Yogurt Setting and set the time to 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes, cancel the yogurt setting. Open the lid to see the raised pizza dough.
- Deflate the dough by punching down lightly. Divide into 2.
HOW TO MAKE PIZZA MARGHERITA
- Preheat the oven to 220 C and place the Pizza stone into the cold oven. Let them gradually heat and achieve the temperature, approximately 10 minutes.
- In the meanwhile make the pizza. First sprinkle semolina onto the working surface. On the semolina surface, pick one dough and roll out the dough thin, into a large circle approximately 8 inches or the shape of your choice using a rolling pin. The dough would rise in the oven, so roll it as thin as possible. Run the fork all around the middle leave 1/2 inch around the edges. This process will remove any bubbles/ air out.
- Pull out the Hot Pizza stone and carefully place them on a hot plate. Sprinkle some Semolina on the Stone and then place the Rolled Pizza dough on the Stone. Don't have a pizza stone, you can bake your pizza in baking tray with a lined parchment paper.
- Gently brush a layer of Olive Oil, smooth the pizza sauce and top it with Mozzarella Cheese . Bake them for 10 -15 minutes until the crust turns golden brown or the cheese has melted. Allow them cool for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with Basil leaves and serve them hot with ketchup, oregano and chilli flakes.
really tempting one nice pics too
You make everything look so beautiful and moreish, even just a simple pizza! Love those bright shots.
I love the light in your pictures! So bright and cheery. The pizza looks rustic and so delicious.
True, choice of food is something under constant change. I loved the pizza sauce picture.
yummy pizza..loved all your shots