Making pizza is one of the most enjoyable activities you can possibly share with your children and teens, or let them loose on alone.
The only addition needed for pizza to a standard 4-ingredient bread dough is olive oil.
We make a lot of bread for the café and we teach how to in our many bread making classes.
This slightly unusual pizza recipe is from our teaching chef Jackie Hobbs.
Pizzettes – dough enough for 4 x15cm pizzettes
The recipe I have given for the dough can be adapted, depending on what you have available. You can of course use 250g strong white flour and no nuts. I would normally use fresh yeast, but you are more likely to have sachets of fast action yeast in your cupboards. I made the dough in the morning and divided into portions which I then put in the fridge ready to roll out and use in the evening. Coating the dough in oil at this point gives a greater crunch to the crust.
Dough –
100g strong white bread flour
100g semolina flour
50g buckwheat flour
Handful chopped nuts
1tsp salt
1 tsp fast action yeast
130g warm water
2 tbsp oil
Weigh out the dry ingredients in a bowl and then add the wet. Mix until the whole lot comes together in a bowl. Then knead by hand for about 10 minutes or use a dough hook in a food mixer to make an elastic dough which will take about 5 minutes. It should be smooth and springy. Shape into a ball and then put the dough into a clean bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to prove for about an hour till double in size approximately. Once it has risen, divide the dough into 4 pieces on a floured work surface, shape each into a ball, coat each with a little oil and leave to rise for about 30 minutes if at room temperature. Use a rolling pin to roll out each ball of the dough into a 15cm rounds and place onto a baking tray. Then add your toppings of choice and bake for about 10 minutes at a temperature of 250 degrees centigrade.
Topping Options
You could stick with a traditional topping and spread each dough base with a tomato sauce, followed by mozzarella or spread on a pesto or a simpler herb oil which makes a “lighter” topping. I used a herb oil made from oregano, a little garlic and some sunflower oil. Then topped with caramelised onions, wilted spinach, goat’s cheese and black olives.
Buon appetito!
What’s for supper next:
The big news is that we are re-opening for take-outs this Saturday, the 25th April.
We will offer fresh bread, pastries, filled breakfast rolls, open rye sandwiches, filled Focaccia, salads and our much loved coffee. We will be open 9am-1pm Wednesday through to Sunday with all food presented in take-away boxes and cups. Safe queuing on our large terrace and lawn. Safe distance card payments and plenty of anti septic sprays. We will wear face masks and gloves.
As this means that I will be spending a lot more time preparing food for take away, the recipes will appear a little more sporadically. I will aim for 2-3 per week.
