'I tried best pizza recipe chefs rave about - and dough isn't homemade'

09 February 2024 , 07:00

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Chef Frank Proto made some rather bold claims - so I had to make the pizza for myself (Image: Danielle Kate Wroe)

When Frank Proto, professional chef and culinary instructor, promised me 'the best pizza I'll ever make' in a YouTube video, I knew I needed to get a pizza the action.

According to YouGov, one in eight people's favourite takeaway is pizza, but we all know deep down that nothing tastes quite like homemade food, and after my rather embarrassing recent run-in with the spiciest Iceland pizza, which was far too hot for me to handle, I wanted a pizza I'd adore. And, it's National Pizza Day, so whyever not?

When I found out you didn't even have to make the dough from scratch? Even better. To be honest, it sounded too good to be true, so I grabbed the ingredients to give it a whirl for myself.

These are all the ingredients to make the pizza (Danielle Kate Wroe)

All the ingredients cost me £15.72, but this would make four pizzas, so that's £3.93 per pizza - and if you've already got some of the ingredients in, it's a cheap win as a midweek meal.

As instructed, I let the shop-bought dough proof for half an hour and used that time to make my sauce. Let's be real, normally we're all far too lazy to make the sauce ourselves - but Frank promises that this recipe is worth it and that it "takes no skill at all." Count me in!

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I popped all the ingredients in a bowl, ready to blend (Danielle Kate Wroe)

The base was actually pretty quick to make. All you need is chopped tomatoes, garlic, basil, chilli flakes, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Frank suggested using one clove of garlic, but I'm a garlicky kinda gal, so opted for four instead. Good job it's not quite Valentine's Day yet...

Once you've popped all your ingredients into a bowl, it's time to get the blender out. Searching through the cupboards, my partner and I realised that we actually did have a stick blender, as used in the video, so I could get a consistency similar to Frank's sauce. He says the ideal texture is "not super smooth", but with all the ingredients blended together, as it's important the fresh garlic isn't solid.

The ideal consistency of the sauce is 'not super smooth' (Danielle Kate Wroe)

Danielle Kate Wroe