Wolf Bake Stone Kit | Perfect Pizza!

When it comes to pizza, t’s all about the crispy base and we have been testing out various versions of the recipe below for a while now and we think it’s pretty fantastic. We use the bake stone in the Wolf range cooker to cook the pizzas which is such a brilliant accessory for this oven. It’s essentially a ceramic stone that draws the moisture out of the dough and therefore creates crispy pizza bases and light textured, crusty bread. The kit also includes a large flat wooden handled, stainless steel paddle which allows you to easily transfer dough to the stone and remove your breads and pizzas out of the oven. The pre-set on the Wolf bake stone setting is 205C but for pizzas we always crank it up to 275C which cooks them beautifully.

Below is our tried and tested recipe for the pizza dough if you want to have a go at making them. We use all sorts of toppings but a huge favourite is the sausage and sage – simply remove the skins from Lincolnshire sausages and fry off the sausage meat in a pan. Once the meat is browned, add some chopped sage – your kitchen will smell divine. Then add as a topping to the pizza along with some mozzarella and freshly cracked black pepper.

Ingredients

• 1 kg white bread flour
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 x 7 g dried yeast sachets
• 1 tbsp golden caster sugar
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 650ml lukewarm water

Method

1. In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar, oil and water and then set aside for a few moments.
2. Sieve the flour and salt together onto a clean surface and make a decent sized well in the middle. Pour the contents of the jug into the well.
3. Use a metal spoon to bring the flour in gradually from the sides and begin to mix it into the liquid. Keep going, each time drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough. For Paul Hollywood’s top tips including on kneading click here.
4. Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place it in a warming drawer, or on top of an AGA or anywhere warm until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Once it’s double the size, remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands. You can either use it immediately or keep it, wrapped in clingfilm, in the fridge (or freezer) until required.
6. Divide the dough into balls – either six or eight depending on the size of the pizzas you want to make, we usually do six.
7. We have got into the habit of rolling the pizza bases out about 15 to 20 minutes before we cook them or even more in advance but we pop them on a tray dusted with floor and into the fridge.
8. To cook the pizzas, spread a passata onto the base and top with your choices  – we love everything from ham and pineapple to beetroot and goat’s cheese. Using the paddle, slide the pizza onto the bake stone and cook until the cheese is browning and bubbling – approx. 5-6 minutes.

Images: HM