Pizza

I am not a fan of pizza stones; they're big, heavy, dangerous to handle when hot, and not useful for anything else. I have a nice round pan with little holes all over the bottom so the crust can breathe. It doesn't need to be pre-heated and it is so thin it heats up really quickly when placed in the hot oven. It's also easy to clean and store. If you only have a baking sheet, you can use that; just shake some cornmeal over it before you put your sheet of dough on it so the dough doesn't stick.

• Pizza dough
• Pizza sauce
• 0.5 lb. mozzarella

Toppings should include whatever you like to eat on pizza, even if it's spam and pineapple. I like minced garlic, Italian sausage, salami, anchovies, sliced black olives, bell peppers, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, sweet little pear tomatoes, and spinach, not all at the same time!

If you're going to use uncooked meat toppings, such as Italian sausage or chicken, you must cook them beforehand. 6 oz. of sausage can be cooked in a skillet over medium heat, breaking up the lumps as you go, until it is just cooked through and starts to brown. A similar amount of chicken should be cut into bite-sized chunks and sautéed gently in a little olive oil until cooked through.

Let your prepared dough rise until doubled again, then roll it out into a 14" circle and leave it to rise for a final 30 minutes.

Pre-heat your oven to 500F.

Brush the dough with a little olive oil and spread sauce over it, leaving a little margin for the crust.

Place your toppings on, except for the mozzarella.

Bake the pizza for 10–15 minutes.

Meanwhile, if you have a firm mozzarella you can grate, do so, otherwise chop it into small pieces.

Take the pizza out of the oven, scatter the mozzarella over the top, and put it back in to bake another 10 minutes or so.

Serve, letting people shake on grated Parmesan and crushed red pepper flakes as they like.

And as an afterthought, if you want to re-heat the leftovers next day, pre-heat your oven to 375°F, then pre-heat a foil-covered baking tray for 5–10 minutes, and bake your leftover slices for 10–12 minutes. They'll be hot and crisp.