Everyday is Pizza Day!

That's not strictly true. But it should be!
Homemade pizza is easy to make, costs next to nothing and is much more waistline-friendly that the shop-bought ones.

This recipe makes two medium pizzas (depending on appetite and greediness), but feel free to multiply it to feed the hungry crowds.

For the base you'll need:
250g of strong bread flour plus more for dusting
half a 7g yeast packet
1 teaspoon of olive oil
180ml tepid water (it shouldn't feel hot or cold)
sprinkle of salt

Mix everything apart from the flour and the salt in a bowl and let it sit for a couple of minutes. In the meantime, sift your flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour the yeast/water/oil mixture into the well and little by little mix in the flour using a spoon (it's much easier to use a metal one instead of a wooden spoon).

Now, flour your hands and knead it to your heart's content (it's strangely therapeutic). Most people take it out of the bowl and knead the dough on a well-floured surface. I keep it in the bowl to reduce the mess I make, and I still love my pizza. Feel free to do either.
After kneading it for a while, and you end up with a springy dough, flour the bowl again, cover it with a damp towel and leave it in a warm place for an hour or so. In the meantime, you can get on with your life.

After the hour has passed, turn on your oven to 220C and put in your pan to heat it up. Cooking the pizza on an already hot pan is possibly the closest you can get to a crust of a pizza-oven quality without a fancy pizza oven.

By now the yeast would have worked its magic and your dough would have doubled in size. Now, roll up your sleeves and flour your hands, because it's kneading time! Knock back the dough (a fancy way of saying knead the dough after it has risen), and add more flour as needed until it starts to behave. Again, you want a springy dough.

When you're satisfied with your dough, cut up a piece of aluminium foil and dust it with flour. Put half your dough on and with a rolling pin or something cylindrical (wine bottle maybe?) roll it and get it as thin as you can (the thinner the crispier!). Next, spoon over your tomato sauce.

If you don't have one already, it's incredibly easy to make some. Just blitz some passata (or a can of chopped tomatoes) with a couple of cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of dried herbs and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Ready.

Now add some grated cheese - I opted for mozzarella, but for something richer you could also add cheddar.

Then it's the fun part: toppings. I went for just spinach, but you can go with anything you like: anchovies, pineapple, fried egg etc. Sky's the limit. Just think that a well known chain of pizza places in Cyprus makes pizzas with strawberries and white chocolate!

Very carefully and with mittens, take out your pan, place your pizza with the aluminium foil on the pan, and pop it back in the oven. A pizza of that size would need 10-15 minutes so keep an eye on it. As soon as the cheese appears bubbly and golden brown, take it out.

If you've got something like this, you're onto a winner.

Enjoy with a glass of crisp white wine and a side salad while watching Game of Thrones (or not, depending on your tolerance for misery).