Pizza; the holy grail of family dinner. A guaranteed plate cleaning, sibling silencing, crowd-pleasing, super meal. So with the long weekend ahead, why not pick up your rolling pin and make your own?

Making pizza dough yourself is actually a lot of fun, and it turns out it’s super easy too; it’s basically just bread dough with a dash of olive oil, a little sugar and, to make life a bit easier, no second rising. And if we still haven’t convinced you, check out how to make some delicious dough balls using the same dough.

Easy Pizza Dough Recipe

Makes 3 pizzas or 2 pizzas and 12 doughballs

Ingredients:

• 5g yeast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp milk
• 155ml warm water
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 60g semolina, plus extra for the tray
• 240g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. In a jug mix together the yeast, oil, milk, warm water and caster sugar and leave to one side whilst you weigh the other ingredients. In this time the mixture should become foamy, as the yeast is activated.
2. Weigh the flour, semolina and salt into a bowl and mix together with your fingers.  Make a well in the centre and pour in the liquid. Stir with a fork, gradually bringing in the flour from round the sides until a shaggy dough is formed, then turn out onto a floured work surface and begin to knead.
3. If the dough is very wet and sticky add an extra sprinkle of flour; if it’s struggling to come together into one ball add a couple of teaspoons of water one at a time, kneading between additions until it sticks together.
4. Knead the dough for 10 minutes – it’s ready when the dough springs back after gently pressed with a finger. Place in a lightly-oiled large bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
5. Preheat your oven to its highest setting (around 250C fan). Turn out onto your work surface and cut into three pieces. If making three pizzas, roll each one out until 2mm thin, place each on a baking tray generously dusted with semolina, top with chosen pizza toppings and put in the oven for 7-10 minutes until the dough is bubbly and golden brown.
6. Remove carefully and enjoy hot.

Top tip: Make double the dough and save half for later! After step 4, simply pop your excess dough into a polythene bag, seal and freeze.

No time to make your own pizza dough? All our pizza recipes come with pre-made bases, so you can speedily add those delicious toppings and get dinner in the oven.

Easy Dough Balls Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/3rd above dough
• 3 tbsp butter (softened)
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• ½ tsp dried oregano

Method

1. After the above dough has risen, take 1/3 and split into 12 even pieces.  Roll each one into a ball and place on a semolina-lined baking tray. Cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to the hottest setting, place the dough balls in the oven for 4-5 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
3. Whilst the dough balls are baking, melt together the butter, garlic and oregano in a pan.
4. Serve the dough balls hot, dipped in the garlic butter.

If you need a bit of inspiration of what to pop on top of your delicious pizza dough, have a look at these 2 quick & easy pizza recipes. And if this recipe sparks the Italian cook within you, Send Your Taste Buds On A Journey Through Italy with our new range, available on the menu now.