I make pizza dough using the bread maker, 500g of white dough that usually makes one large loaf, will make about 5/6 good sized pizzas. I just add a little more oil than water than usual which makes for a softer, more pliable dough.
This is my all time favourite topping. I like my pizza bases thin and crispy and the topping to be really zingy and bursting with flavour.
I don’t get the predilection for toppings such as chicken tikka masala, in fact I don’t like chicken at all on a pizza, it just doesn’t work for me. Anything remotely Thai or Asian also get the thumbs down. A little bit of tuna is passable but definitely not prawns. And no meat other than a good pepperoni, certainly no minced beef. One man’s meat is another man’s poison as they say.
In an ideal world I would be telling you that I pop out into the garden to cook the pizzas in our own wood fired oven but at the current time, like most people, we have to rely on our normal kitchen oven for the cooking part.
Despite numerous books on the subject collected over the years, our dreams of building our own bread oven have not yet come to fruition but it is a plan in the pipeline, wedged somewhere in between the new Land Rover, new bathroom, skylights in the kitchen and garden studio. Oh, and treehouse.
However, dreaming aside, my Neff ovens have a top and bottom heat setting which is perfect for pizzas, cooking them quickly and leaving a beautifully crispy base and I can’t complain with the results.
Pizzas are very personal things, we all have different toppings in this house. Michael goes for hot and spicy, the more chilli and hot pepperoni the better. My son opts for very basic Margherita, sometimes with a little salami or on this occasion some diced roast gammon and I like anything with salty anchovies and olives.
The good thing about them is they take minutes to cook, are always preferable to shop bought and at a fraction of the cost. Everyone can have what they like so there are absolutely no arguments.
And you know exactly what you and your family are eating. No cheese analogue, fake cheese or the really inviting sounding Value Engineered Product, whatever you want to call it, will pass your lips. And that’s got to be good.
- Carton or jar of good quality passata
- 1 Red Onion, very thinly sliced
- Black olives
- Tin of Anchovies in Olive Oil, drained
- Jar of Artichoke Hearts in oil, drained
- Caperberries
- 2 Mozzarella balls, sliced
- Olive Oil
- Preheat the oven to 275c
- Spread a thinnish layer of passata over the base.
- Scatter some sliced onion, about 4 or 5 anchovies, a handful of olives, 4 or 5 artichoke pieces and a smattering a caperberries on the top.
- Add a few mozzarella slices.
- Don’t overdo the topping as it will stop the dough from cooking properly and the base will go soggy.
- Sprinkle with a little olive oil.
- Cook for 8-10 minutes until bubbling and the dough is brown at the edges.
