With just a few tasty ingredients from your supermarket or grocery store, you can make the perfect pizza from the comfort of your own kitchen.

All you need is the right flour, a bit of time, the right oven temperature and of course – delicious toppings.

A good foundation            

If you’re going to make your own pizza base, you need to use "doppio zero" or "00" flour. The "zeros" mean its more refined, so the flour is soft and silky. 00 flour is used for pasta as well as pizza, and the experts swear by it. You will find it in many supermarkets these days, but independent grocers also often sell it – especially the Italian ones.

How to make pizza dough

Scatter a teaspoon of dried yeast over ⅔ cup of warm water. Leave for a minute until the yeast becomes creamy, then stir to dissolve. Mix in two cups of 00 flour and a teaspoon of salt. Knead the dough until it becomes stretchy and smooth – this will take 5-10 minutes of serious arm action, or the dough hook on your food processor.

Brush your dough with a little oil, place in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and let it rise until the dough doubles in size. Depending on how warm your kitchen is, this should take around an hour and a half.

When ready, "punch" the dough down to take the air out of it, and roll out to the right size on a lightly floured bench.

Of course, if you’re in a hurry, pre-made pizza bases are perfectly acceptable!

Oven

A hot, hot, hot (did I mention HOT?!) oven is the next thing you need. The pizza pros cook pizza at 400-500°C, so don’t be afraid to turn the heat up to full.

If you’re using a pizza stone, add the stone to the oven when cold to pre-heat the stone and oven together. The beauty of a pizza stone is that it concentrates the heat and absorbs moisture so your pizza crust is crisp when cooked. It’s not an essential though. The wire rack of your oven also works well.

Toppings

Quality over quantity is the name of the game. Try not to load up your pizza with too many toppings – three or four is ideal.

Flavour combinations are endless. If stumped for ideas, the classics are a fantastic fall-back.

• Basil, tomato and mozzarella make a margarita pizza.

Other delicious combinations include:

• Mushroom, garlic and taleggio
• Salami, olives and goat’s cheese
• Anchovies, capers and chilli

Season your pizza and transfer to the oven.

Don’t relax just yet. Four to five minutes in that super-hot oven is all it should take, so sip your glass of vino in the kitchen and keep a close eye on it.

Remove, serve with salad and enjoy.

Buon appetito!