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Home made Pizza

Story location: Home / food_and_drink / pizza /
11/Nov/2006

Saturday night has become our traditional 'home made pizza' night. Emma makes the base and I make the tomato sauce and then we sort out the toppings.

Pizza Base

  • 8oz bread flour (white or wholemeal flour)
  • 1 tsp bakers yeast
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tps dried herbs
  • pinch of salt
  • 4 tsp vegetable oil
  • ΒΌ pint warm water

Mix the yeast with a little water and wait until it starts to 'bubble'. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the salt and herbs. Add the yeast, water and oil and mix to form a dough. Knead for around 10 minutes before returning it to the bowl. Leave for about an hour until it has started to rise.

Divide the mixture in two, roll out and cover with the chosen toppings. One alternative is to make a 'stuffed crust' by putting a ring of spreading cheese around the pizza, about 1 inch in from the edge. Fold the edge inwards to cover the cheese.

Tomato Sauce

  • 1 tin of tomatoes
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tsp mixed herbs
  • pinch of chilli flakes
  • pinch of salt

Put everything in a food processor or liquidizer and puree. Pour into a pan and simmer gently for about 1 hour until the mixture has cocentrated down to a thick paste. You may need to stir occasionally to make sure it cooks down evenly and doesn't stick or burn. Leave to cool slightly before spreading on the the base.

Toppings

The range of suitable toppings is almost infinite but we tend to stick to either chicken/turkey based, seafood based or vegetable based. We sometimes do combinations such as a paella style topping, with saffron and paprika in the tomato sauce and a mixure of chicken and seafood on top.

Most of our pizza toppings include capers and anchovies along with the obligatory cheese. For the cheese we either use proper mozarella, sometimes grated cheddar or even feta. The seafood pizzas often include tinned tuna, baby clams, crabmeat and sometimes king prawns. Vegetable toppings include sliced onion and peppers or sometimes to cheat, a scattering of a frozen 'roast veg' mixture which includes peppers, courgettes and aubergines.

When everything is on the base, bake in a pre-heated oven (gas mark 6) for about 15 minutes.