Pizza is always a winner, with both adults and kids alike. Especially if it’s homemade. No need to let homemade pizza dough scare you. It is really easy to make and this dough doesn’t need to rise for an hour or more, no kneading skills required, it’s really fast. I do have to admit though that I always keep a pizza kit from the supermarket in my fridge for emergencies (read: need to have dinner ready in 15 minutes flat but I have no inspiration whatsoever to prep something). It’s fresh pizza dough in a can plus tomato sauce. For me, it can be a life saver (at least for my nerves on one of those frantic days).

But if you have more than 15 minutes to spare, give this homemade pizza dough a try. I topped it with chicken mince, a few veggies and feta cheese, but you can top this pizza with anything you like. From a simple margarita to the most fancy sea food pizza and anything in between. For the basic pizza dough, you’ll need the following:

Ingredients for the dough

• 1 package dry yeast (7g)
• 250 ml of lukewarm water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 400-450 g spelt flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• Plus a little bit of oil to coat the dough

As you don’t have to let the dough rise for very long time, you could start by already preheating your oven to 220°C. After using an oven thermometer, I’ve noticed that the oven had not reached the set temperature, even though it said it had. Since then, I always start to preheat my oven a bit sooner.

Directions for the dough

Mix the yeast with the water and sugar and let sit for about 5 minutes until it’s foamy.

Mix the salt and the flour in a large bowl (I always use my stand mixer with the dough hook attached, but you can use a handheld mixer with dough hooks as well). Start with 400 g, you can add more if the dough is too sticky/too wet.

Once the yeast mixture is foamy, pour it into the flour and add the oil.

Attach the dough hook(s) and knead until a dough forms and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it’s too sticky/too wet, add more flour.

Then knead for another 5 minutes or so until the dough is elastic.

Coat the dough with a little bit of oil (a teaspoon should be enough), cover the bowl with a towel or cling film and put in a warm place.

Let the dough rise for about 10 minutes. After those ten minutes, the dough is ready to be used. Fast, isn’t it? Now while the dough is rising, prepare your toppings.

Ingredients for the topping

• 125 ml tomato sauce*
• 200 g shredded mozzarella
• 500 g chicken mince
• 2 tbsp seasoning**
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 2 shallots
• good handful of cherry tomatoes
• 100 g feta cheese

*You can use any of your favorite tomato sauce. I like to use simple tomato passata (a thin tomato sauce made from raw pureed tomatoes) and season it with a bit of salt and pepper.

**Use your favorite seasoning (Italian, TexMex, etc) or add 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp curry powder.

While the dough is rising, heat a little bit of oil in a frying pan and brown the chicken mince. Add seasoning and stir well. Set aside.

Cut the pepper and shallots in thin slices.

Once the dough has risen, put it on a floured surface and roll it into a rectangle.

Place the rolled out dough on a baking sheet (greased or lined with parchment paper). Spread tomato sauce on the dough.

Then add all toppings, starting with the mozzarella, then divide the browned chicken mince, shallots and peppers on top.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Then scatter over the pizza and crumble the feta on top.

Bake ca. 15 – 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 220°C.

Ready to serve 🙂

Enjoy!

PS: want to try another crowd pleaser? Tortilla Pie is the way to go!