BEST PIZZA DOUGH

Contributed by Jennifer McCormack 

This dough recipe is courtesy of Kurma Dasa from his book “Great Vegetarian Dishes”. 
It is really easy to make and sure beats any frozen pizza bases you can buy from the supermarket. 
I challenge you to buy a pizza with a base as yummy as this! This is at least a once-a-fortnight special for us.

Mix ½ cups plain flour with 3 tsp yeast, ½ tsp sugar and ¼ tsp salt. Add 2 tbs olive oil and stir in ½ lukewarm water until a dough forms. 
Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, cover with Clingfilm and let it rise for 30 minutes. 
Punch it down and roll it out

Playgroup Bread

Contributed By Jennifer McCormack

Dish history

Jen's Playgroup Bread is somewhat haphazard ... in that it is different every week and I don't measure anything ... but usually it seems to turn out all right! This recipe is enough to feed a small playgroup of about 10 children (and their mummies) - with very small bread rolls! I have found it MUCH yummier when the bread dough is made 12 hours in advance. Apparently this proving time gives the yeast a chance to ferment, thus making the bread easier to digest, which is good because children under 2 years of age who are making bread at playgroup tend to eat more of their roll BEFORE it even gets on to the baking tray ...

Ingredients · List quantity of ingredients

• 2 cups wholemeal / rye / spelt flour
  
• 1 cup plain flour / rice flour
• 3 tsp gluten
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1.5 tsp yeast
• 3 tbs oil
• water (sorry! don't know how much ... maybe 1.25 cups?

Before you begin 

No preparation required

Method

1. Sift flours and gluten together
2. Add sugar, yeast and oil
3. Stir together with a bit of water. Add a full cup while you are stirring, and then add more as you feel it needs it.
4. The dough should be damp and stretchy, but not too sticky
5. Turn dough out on to a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. This is important! The kneading activates the gluten in the flour to create a nice firm, but stretchy dough. Not enough kneading and your bread will be very hard to chew and maybe a bit dry.
6. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp tea towel or put a lid on it. Prove for 12 hours if possible, but if not then prove for at least 2 or 3 if you can. The longer the better.
7. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly.
8. Divide into small bread rolls for the children to knead - and sing your bread song while you do this!

Comments

• I find it useful to mark out sections with a pencil on the baking tray so that each child knows where their bread roll is. You can write their name on the baking paper next to their roll if they have made something special.
• Using rice flour in the shakers is good as it does not muck around with the consistency of the dough too much