Making little party size pizzas with children on a rainy day, as a primary school party or class activity is enjoyable. Making pizza for dinner from scratch for two to four people is manageable. This all changes when the number of enthusiastic eaters swells to six, seven, eight or more. Then it becomes a time consuming and messy process. A process that tests the patience of even the most calm and organised home cook. This is why I like to go out for pizza.

However I capitulated to the pleas of my children whom for some reason seem to prefer my pizza to the authentic, wood-fired variety. This shows that children’s opinions are completely clouded by the devotion they have to their parents. Although my home cooked pizzas are very tasty and fill our house with a mouth-watering oregano tinged aroma, they are not restaurant quality but my children really enjoy them.

The challenge I find when making pizza for my large family is tackling the large mound of dough, kneading it firmly and swiftly to encourage the dough to become soft and silky but not allowing it dry out. This means that I must continue to kneed even when participating in a discussion with my four year old Luka about dinosaur bones and David Attenborough whom he calls,”…that old Grandpa” and then switching my attention to his questions about the movie Fantastic Mr Fox while whistling like the main character. Most relieved that I can multi-task.

I have tried several pizza base recipes and find the one by Pete Evans results in the most silky dough, with the best tasting finish whether you like your pizza thin or a little on the plumper side. It is also easy to cut out into mini pizza portions. I altered the recipe slightly in order to be able to use the 7 gram sachets of yeast that I always have in my pantry and to incorporate flour in 500 gram lots.

Pizza Dough – this will make 4 x 30cm thin crust pizzas. I doubled this quantity for my family of eight.

2 x 7 gram sachets of dried yeast
3 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
500 grams 00  baker’s/pizza flour
300 mls warm water
semolina

Using a measuring jug, fill it up with 300 ml of warm water and add the yeast, sugar, salt, olive oil and stir gently to combine. Put the jug aside for 10 – 15 minutes until the contents become thick and frothy.

In a large bowl measure out the flour, make a well in the middle and pour in the yeast mixture once ready. Using your hands which should be very clean, mix the contents together, drawing the dry flour in from the sides. Add a little more water if needed.

Once you have a mass of dough, turn this out onto a clean bench lightly dusted with flour. Knead for a good 5 minutes until the dough becomes soft, but pliable and beautifully silky.

Lightly oil your original mixing bowl and pop the dough inside. Cover with a clean tea towel and place in a warm spot (I find the bench next to the oven works well) for 30 minutes until it has doubled in size. * I turn my oven on as soon as I start to make the pizza dough so that the area around the oven is warm. This helps the dough to rise. Now, move on to making the sauce.

Of course you can use a good quality bottled sauce, but I tend to think that if you are going to the trouble of making the base from scratch, then the sauce is a cinch.

Pizza Sauce Ingredients – this is enough for 4 large pizzas, but again I doubled this for my family’s needs.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium garlic clove crushed
1 x 400 gram tin of crushed or diced tomatoes
half a teaspoon dried Italian herbs or 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano and 1 cup of shredded fresh basil leaves

Heat up the olive oil over a medium setting and add the garlic. Fry for a minute taking care not to let it burn. Add all the other ingredients. Bring to the boil, then immediately turn the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Back to the pizza dough…

Once your dough has risen, punch it down and then scoop it out onto your bench which has been sprinkled with semolina. Quickly knead the dough back into a plump, round shape and then cut it into four even pieces. Use your rolling pin to knead each piece into flat, thin circles to fit your pizza trays.

Lightly brush each tray with olive oil before placing the rolled out dough onto each one. Use the tips of your fingers to press the dough up against the rim of each pizza pan.

Spread each base with the home cooked pizza sauce and then add your favourite toppings. Tonight I used mild chorizo sausage on one pizza; pitted kalamata olives on another; the third had sliced mushrooms whilst the last was mozzarella only – for the pizza purists in my family.

Into a preheated oven at 200 degrees fan-forced or 220 degrees conventional for 10 – 12 minutes until cooked through and crispy around the edges.

Slice into eighths using a circular pizza cutter and watch the slices disappear within minutes!