I usually make my pizza dough using sourdough starter, but I don’t always have starter ready to use, yet still wish to get a light and fluffy “pizza” style bread onto the table to go with what I am serving for dinner.

In my family I regard my dear brother Mario as the “pizza king”, and a couple of weeks ago I bent his ear to tell me his secret for his “pizza tray bake” which is a really convenient way of serving a baked pizza dough, so I have followed his lead with this recipe.

The baked dough can be cut into the serving size pieces you want, and it can also be used to make 2 large (30cm round) pizzas.  If doing so, divide dough in two instead of placing onto the baking tray, and continue as you would normally when making pizza.

The secret to getting a really “light and fluffy” baked dough, is to allow the dough to rest on the baking tray for 2 ½ to 3 hours to rise by which time it will look more like a focaccia than a pizza.  This method of giving the dough “time” means you can prepare the dough early afternoon to the stage where you place it onto the baking tray, and then leave it to rest whilst you get on with other parts of your dinner. If you are already planning to use the oven, then when that dish comes out of the oven, simply put the pizza tray in whilst you allow your other dish to rest.  If the oven isn’t at 200 degrees when you put it in (because you have cooked the previous dish at a lower temperature), simply turn the oven up, but you will have to cook the pizza tray for an extra couple of minutes.  Then you can serve your dinner with lovely fresh “pizza bread” with little effort.

If you don’t have time to allow the pizza dough to rest on the baking tray for 2 ½ to 3 hours, then allow at least an hour and you will still end up with a nice baked pizza crust.

Whilst I love the simplicity of rosemary and sea salt flakes as a topping, you can use whatever you like … my brother often uses anchovies, black Kalamata olives, roasted red peppers and feta … a delicious combination.  Try not to overload the dough with toppings otherwise the base may get “wet” during baking, so this is definitely a case of  “less is best”.

Happy pizza baking!

Pizza Tray Bake

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Serves: 1 large pizza tray

Ingredients

• 1 tbls olive oil for the bowl which will hold the dough
• 1 to 2 tbls olive oil for the baking tray
  
  
• 300g water
• 1 x 7g sachet yeast
• 20g olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
  
  
• 500g bakers flour
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
  
  

TOPPING

• Olive oil
• Fresh rosemary
• Sea salt flakes

Instructions

1. Place 1 tbls olive oil into a large bowl, ensuring that you spread it around the bowl right up to the edge (I use my fingers to do this)
2. Place water, yeast, olive oil and sugar into TM bowl and warm 2 minutes / 37 / speed 1
3. Add flour and lastly salt and knead 2 minutes
4. Upturn the TM bowl over the oiled bowl and allow the dough to fall out
5. Return the TM bowl to the carousel and Turbo x 1 to remove the last of the dough from the blades
6. Use a wet spatula (dipping your spatula in water stops the dough from sticking to it) to help release the last of the dough from the TM bowl and add it to the dough in the oiled bowl
7. Cover bowl (I use a silicon mat or Glad Wrap if you don’t have one) and allow dough to double in size … this should take about an hour depending on the weather, but you want it to be at least double
8. Line a large baking tray (I use one that is 38cm x 30cm) with baking paper (dot a little olive oil onto the tray to hold the baking paper in place), and sprinkle over the base 1 to 2 tbls of olive oil (this will help to create a nice crust on the base of the pizza dough)
9. Upturn the oiled bowl over the baking tray and allow the dough to fall out into the middle of the tray
10. Use your fingers to lightly press and "dot" the dough towards the corners of the baking tray (there should be enough oil on the dough to prevent your fingers from sticking) leaving the "dots" to help catch some of the toppings
11. Sprinkle the dough with a little olive oil, then the fresh rosemary and sea salt flakes using as much or as little as you like
12. NB: if you are using other toppings which should be kept refrigerated while the dough is resting (i.e. feta), then put that on last before you bake, but use the oil at this stage as that will help to stop the cover from sticking to the dough)
13. Cover the tray (use the silicon mat or Glad Wrap) and put aside for 2 ½ to 3 hours until the dough is light and fluffy
14. Preheat oven to 200 degrees fan forced and remove the cover over the tray
15. Place tray into oven and bake 10 minutes, turn, and bake a further 6 to 8 minutes, or until lightly golden
16. If you like a really “crusty” finish to your dough, then bake for a further 2 minutes or more as desired

Notes

The baked dough can be cut into the serving size pieces you want, and it can also be used to make 2 large (30cm round) pizzas. If doing so, divide dough in two instead of placing onto the baking tray, and continue as you would normally when making pizza.

The secret to getting a really “light and fluffy” baked dough, is to allow the dough to rest on the baking tray for 2 ½ to 3 hours to rise by which time it will look more like a focaccia than a pizza. This method of giving the dough “time” means you can prepare the dough early afternoon to the stage where you place it onto the baking tray, and then leave it to rest whilst you get on with other parts of your dinner. If you are already planning to use the oven, then when that dish comes out of the oven, simply put the pizza tray in whilst you allow your other dish to rest. If the oven isn't at 200 degrees when you put it in (because you have cooked the previous dish at a lower temperature), simply turn the oven up, but you will have to cook the pizza tray for an extra couple of minutes. Then you can serve your dinner with lovely fresh "pizza bread" with little effort.

If you don’t have time to allow the pizza dough to rest on the baking tray for 2 ½ to 3 hours, then allow at least an hour and you will still end up with a nice baked pizza crust.

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