Homemade Pizza

Homemade pizza is not supermarket bought then heated in the oven, nor even your own toppings on a readymade base. It is made from scratch, which with a breadmaker is simple. My recipe for enough dough for three thin pizzas is a cup of water, 2.75 cups of strong white flour, 2.5 tbsps of olive oil, a tsp of sugar, 3tbsps of milk powder, 4tbsps of sugar, 1 tsp dried yeast. Dough setting, wait for 90 minutes and then knock back, knead, roll into circles (that is the bit I struggle with, mine look like the outlines of Rohrschach blots), leave to rise for at least 15 minutes then add toppings and cook at or near your oven's max temperature till done - about 15 minutes.

We love a fishy version, made with a tin of sardines (backbones removed) and half a tin of anchovies, plus lightly fried onions and peppers (back to the Basics range) and a cheap Basics mozarella, so about £1.50 for that one.

Cheaper and still great is a version of Napoletana (I think) with half a tin of toms (JS Basics again, or Lidl's are excellent for all of 33p) cooked down to a paste with a teaspoon of sugar added, spread on the base followed by more of the onions and pepper, the rest of the anchovies, and some halved pitted black olives from a jar in the fridge that lasts a week or more of salads and suchlike.

The third uses slices of salami - I buy the JS £1 Try Me packs as they are enough for a whole pizza, or for a starter with crudites etc - the onions and pepper, sliced garlic and another cheapo mozarella, plus a few Parmesan shavings made with a potato peeler.

It's important to cook them on metal pizza plates or at a pinch a metal griddle sheet so they don't end up soggy (as they would with pot or glass carriers). So three pizzas for about £3.50 worth of ingredients, the cost of one from the shop or half a (decent) takeaway pizza. For us a Thursday night treat eaten in front of the TV - it's Big Bang Theory Night - instead of the usual family gathering round the dining table. It's a particular treat for me as I love making them and my careful side likes thinking about how much Pizza Express versions (which are admittedly good) would have cost.