Ingredients

• Tomato Sauce

• 2 medium onions (finely sliced)

• 1 large red pepper (capsicum) (chopped)

• 6 tomatoes (a little bigger than golf ball sized), chopped

• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped

• 1 tsp. black pepper

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. smoked paprika powder, not the hot stuff

• 1 tbsp. dried oregano

• 1 tbsp. sugar

• 3 tbsp. red wine vinegar

• 1/2 coffee mug of water

• A small handful of fresh basil leaves

• Olive oil for cooking

• Bread Base

• 4 coffee mugs (about 700 gm.) of strong bread flour

• 3 x 7 gm fast acting yeast sachets

• 1 tsp. sugar

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. pepper

• 5 tbsp. olive oil

• 1-2 coffee mugs of hand warm water

• Toppings

• 500 gm. grated cheese (any good melting cheese you have)

• 2 red peppers (capsicum), de-seeded and sliced into rings

• 4 small red onions, peeled and finely sliced into rings

• 300 gm. small cherry or plum tomatoes (use any you have)

• A few leaves of fresh basil

• 1-2 tsp. dried oregano

• 1 tsp. black pepper

• Optional: meats like salami, pepperoni, ham, chicken, or any of the usual pizza toppings.

Instructions

1. Making Pizza paste:

2. In a large pan add some oil and brown the onions until a dark golden. Keep stirring so they don't burn if using a high heat.

3. Then add the chopped pepper, tomatoes, fresh basil and garlic, cook to soften.

4. Add the dry spices and mix in, cook for a minute.

5. Add the vinegar, water and sugar, mix and cook for about five minutes.

6. Pur?e using a stick/blender. Cook on until you have a thick ketchup consistency.

7. Making Bread dough and pizza base

8. If you have it, use a stand mixer with dough hooks to make dough. Otherwise make dough in a bowl.

9. Place flour, yeast, sugar, salt and pepper, mix.

10. Add olive oil and mix.

11. Add water, at first add about 1 cup then add a little at a time until you get a soft smooth dough, not to sticky.

12. Turn the dough out on a floured board, give it a quick kneading and then split the mixture into 4.

13. Roll each ball into about 12" in diameter circle. This should make them about 1cm thick.

14. Place on an oiled and floured baking sheet (I make all four pizzas aon different sheets).

15. Topping and Cooking

16. (Take into consideration what you want on the pizza and how much topping you like, but this is a rough guide for 4 pizzas)

17. On each pizza base, spoon some of the tomato sauce you have made to create a thin layer, leaving about 1/2 an inch uncovered around the edge.

18. Decorate with peppers, onions, tomatoes, bits of ripped up basil.

19. Top with cheese.

20. Sprinkle a little oregano and pepper on top.

21. Cook in a preheated red oven, the oven temperature should be as high as you can possibly get it. At 300-320?C, the maxim on most home ovens, it takes 8-10 minutes. The hotter the oven, better it is. In a real pizza oven, temperatures can be as high as 400-500? C and pizza cooks in around 3 minutes, with the base browned and the cheese nicely melted. In home oven, it is advisable to check that the pizza base is cooked, by lifting it up from the tray using a large spatula, and allowing the steam to escape. Make sure that the base has stopped being doughy.

22. Serve hot.

Notes

• Also see Pizza 1.