The Cozy Oven Series Part 3: Bread and Pizza

The Cozy Oven Series Part 3: Bread and Pizza

By Ilaria Catizone


The oven is hot, you have cooked your veggies and your cake, if you are still in a baking mood you can try some bread or pizza!
Well, actually if you wanted to make either of these you should have thought about it a few hours ago, but other than a little forward planning this recipe requires little skill.


The basic recipe requires:
330g lukewarm water (you can also use whey left over from making cheese or yogurt)
7g instant yeast
1 tsp sugar
1TBS salt
1 TBS olive oil
480g plain flour
For the flour – you can use white, wholemeal or a combination of the two. You can also experiment with wheat, rye and spelt in various amounts. Just keep in mind that the easiest and most reliable version of this recipe is made with white wheat flour, so I recommend you start there if you are new to bread making. Also, the more wholemeal flour you add, the denser your dough will be so adding a little extra water might help. A good balance is half white and half wholemeal.


Method:

  • Mix the sugar yeast and water in a bowl and let rest until bubbles appear (about 10 minutes). This means the yeast is active.
  • Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and let rest so it can rise.
  • If you are making pizza, you can get away with only about half an hour of rising time, but if you are making bread, 2-3 hours resting is best.
  • After the dough has finished resting you can dust it with flour and form a bun or spread into a pizza (I make 3 medium pizzas out of this amount of dough).
  • For the bread, I usually let it rest a further 30 minutes before cooking it. If you are making pizza now it’s the time to add your favourite toppings.
  • Both go in a very hot oven, around 240C. Cook the pizza until golden and the bread until crispy and well browned. Each oven is different, so some experimenting will be requited. I cook pizza for about 5-7 minutes and bread for about 20-25 min in my oven.
  • Eat the pizza right away and the bread… well, you are supposed to let that one cool down but that is a real challenge as it smells so good!