To make the tomato sauce, in a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and fry until translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and fry for 1 minute more.
Add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes and stir.
Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for 20-25 mins until the sauce has thickened slightly.
Season and set aside to cool. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, mix the
flour, semolina, salt, and yeast to combine.
Add the olive oil and water and mix on low for 2 mins.
Raise the speed to medium and mix for 3 mins more.
The dough is quite wet but don’t be scared.
Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl and cover with lightly oiled cling film. Let it rise until doubled in size.
To make the pizza, generously grease the base and sides of cast iron skillet or cake tin.
Using oiled hands, press the dough out into a circular shape. Use your hands to gently stretch the dough at
the edges until it is slightly larger than your pan.
Transfer the dough to the pan and use your fingers to push the dough out so that it evenly covers the base and sides of the pan. Preheat the oven to 190 C. Add a thin layer of sauce (about 50 - 75ml) on top of the crust and spread into an even layer. Layer the mozzarella evenly on top of the sauce.
Top with sauce to come nearly to the top of the dish and cover with an even layer of Parmesan.
Bake the pizza until the edges and parmesan are golden brown and the sauce is bubbly, 40-45 mins. Let cool at least 15 mins before slicing and serving.
Thin Crust: In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and oil into 325ml of lukewarm water and leave for a few mins, then pour into the well.
Using your hands, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, 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.
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 in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size. Remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands then divide the dough up into as many little balls as you want to make pizzas.
Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7. Place a baking tray into the oven to preheat. Roll the balls of dough out on a flour-dusted surface to roughly ½cm thick.
Top with some of the tomato sauce, leaving a rough 2cm gap around the edges (recipe for the tomato sauce in the deep dish pizza method) then sprinkle over some mozzarella and finally top with a small amount of grated parmesan.. Carefully remove
the baking tray from the oven and place a pizza on top (you’ll need to do this in batches). Pop in the hot oven for around 10 minutes, or until golden and crisp, then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and top with a few basil leaves Slice up and serve as you go.
