About a month ago we ordered takeout pizza from ‘Baby Pizza’, Church St, Richmond in Melbourne. Maybe because it was the night before our holiday or maybe it was the pizza but it sparked off a bit of a pizza phase for us and when I came across Jim Lahey’s no knead dough recipe, I bought a pizza stone and gave it a go. Last night was the stones christening and after its success, I expect it will be busy this Summer. Already started plotting breakfast pizzas and dessert pizzas……… It’s the most simple recipe, it’s just a matter of waiting until the next day to unleash it, stretch it and top it (if that sounds weird, I am still talking about the dough). The tip I would offer is to lift the base onto some baking paper, once stretched and cook the pizza on the paper, as we did try and use the massive snow shovel-esque thing that came with the stone and ended up first go with a very abstract calzone. Ingredients for pizza base, makes four small-medium sized pizzas

• 500g strong white flour
• 1g active dry yeast
• 16g fine sea salt
• 350g water

Method Sieve flour into a large bowl and mix in the yeast and sea salt. Add the water and use 1 hand to incorporate it with the flour mix. It will be quite sticky, once combined cling film over the top and leave in a warm place for about 18 hours. This would make sense to make about 6pm the night before you intend to eat it for lunch the next day……..OR as I did, make at 3.30pm and not eat until 7pm the next day, as long as the dough has at least doubled in size. A warmer place will speed up this process, as will a colder space slow it down. Flour a work surface, scrape out dough from bowl and use a little plain flour to mould it together before dividing into 4 pieces. If too sticky, dust with a little more flour. IF YOU DON’T intend to use dough straight away, wrap individually in cling film and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Remove them from fridge two hours before you intend to eat, covered in a damp cloth. IF YOU DO want to use straight away – Pick up a piece and start stretching it around the edges in order to form a pizza shape. It does shrink very slightly when cooked. A helpful video is in the link… http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/03/jim-laheys-no-knead-pizza-dough-recipe.html Once you have shaped your pizza, place on a sheet of baking paper, add your toppings and cook in an oven or BBQ heated to 260°C for about 2-8 minutes, a pizza stone is helpful, if not use a heated baking sheet. Fresh Tomatoes or Tinned? My Tomato Base Recipe I made a batch of each, and after a very serious taste test, it was evident the fresh tomatoes made the best tasting base, but the tinned tomatoes are also pretty good, if you want a quicker version. The only difference is with the fresh tomatoes, I skinned them before blending, the rest is exactly the same. FRESH

• About 10 Roma tomatoes
• 1 sugar cube
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Add tomatoes to boiling water until skins crack Run under cold water and when cool enough to handle, peel off skins Blend in a food processor until very smooth Add oil to a pan and fry garlic until lightly browned then add tomatoes Use a lid and wooden spoon to leave partially covered (as it will bubble out) and let the sauce bubble for a good 20 minutes. Stir occasionally making sure it doesn’t stick and when it looks thick, transfer to a sieve placed over a bowl and use your wooden spoon to push the sauce through, so you are left with as little pulp as possible and the seeds Return strained sauce to the pan and simmer until you reach your desired thickness TINNED

• 2 tins of cherry tomatoes
• 1 sugar cube
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Blend tomatoes until smooth Add oil to a pan and fry the garlic until lightly browned then add the tomatoes Use a lid and wooden spoon to leave partially covered (as it will bubble out) and let the sauce bubble for a good 20 minutes. Stir occasionally making sure it doesn’t stick and when it looks thick, transfer to a sieve placed over a bowl and use your wooden spoon to push the sauce through, so you are left with as little pulp as possible and the seeds Return strained sauce to the pan and simmer until you reach your desired thickness I always prefer simple toppings to fussy ones, so for these I used torn mozzarella and fior di latte with fresh basil, chilli and my fresh tomato sauce base. The second topping I made was just melted butter with sautéed garlic and fresh rosemary, which I painted onto the pizza with a good sprinkle of sea salt. These pizzas are so good on the BBQ and the garlic topping makes for a great starter or side dish to pasta or salads. Let me know if you try it…