Mid-week meals can be the bain of any working mother. What to make and the time to make it before our darling children start making systematic raids on the fridge. We all know that a child's hunger is like a wolf on the loose in the hen house. The other morning Little Miss 4 announced that she was so hungry her stomach was "about to eat itself".
Believe me, she is far from starved. She loves to help us in the kitchen, and keen to divert her from the television, I suggested she help make pizza for dinner.
This is a simple no wait base recipe that utilises store cupboard and fridge ingredients for a simple, quick and satisfying dinner solution.
Simple Pizza Base
500g strong flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon dried yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
Pour the water and oil into the flour well and stir in the yeast, salt and sugar. Once the yeast has dissolved stir in the flour to form a dough. Once the dough has formed turn it out onto the bench and knead to combine.
Knead the dough until it is elastic. It should spring back into shape when pressed.
Oil the bottom of the original bowl and put the ball of dough back in. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and set into a sink of warm water to rest while you prepare the toppings.
Set the oven to 225 deg. C.
Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
Pour the water and oil into the flour well and stir in the yeast, salt and sugar. Once the yeast has dissolved stir in the flour to form a dough. Once the dough has formed turn it out onto the bench and knead to combine.
Knead the dough until it is elastic. It should spring back into shape when pressed.Oil the bottom of the original bowl and put the ball of dough back in. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and set into a sink of warm water to rest while you prepare the toppings.
Set the oven to 225 deg. C.
Once the toppings are done, tear off a chunk of dough and press it out onto a piece of baking paper. It should be about 5mm thick, but doesn't have to be a regular shape.
Once the toppings are on, bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. The base should be crispy.
Pizza Toppings:
Home made tomato sauce
sliced spring onion
Bocconcini - a type of baby mozzarella
lamb mince made into meatballs with crushed garlic and salt and pepper
fresh basil leaves
We made enough to bake 3 pizzas and store enough dough in the freezer for another pizza to make later.
Little Miss 4 is looking forward to having left over Pizza for "hot lunch" tomorrow.
where do you buy your boccochini? I have not been able to find any here in kaiapoi
ReplyDeleteI got it from the New World on Peer street in Ilam. It's in the speciality cheese section. It was delicious!
ReplyDelete