Simple and Fresh!

Trying to live "a hand made life" certainly has some benefits. Better tasting food and a great deal of satisfaction, for starters. Last night I made pizza. It takes some time and planning to make the yeast based dough but it was definitely worth the effort. Topping it with simple fresh ingredients was a good move, too.

Here's the recipe, if you're interested:

Pizza dough:

350g strong baker's flour - plus extra flour for dusting and kneading

1 teaspoon castor sugar

7g packet of dried instant yeast

few grinds of salt (half a teaspoon)

2 tablespoons olive oil

250 ml warm water

Place 1 tablespoon of the flour into a bowl with the castor sugar and yeast. Add three tablespoons of the warm water and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes, or until large bubbles appear on the surface. I put my bowl into the sink filled with warm water.

Then add the yeast mixture, olive oil, salt and remaining water to the rest of the flour. Stir with a round topped knife until mixture comes together. Then turn onto a floured board ready for kneading
Knead the dough for five minutes. This will give those arm muscles a good work out! Then place the ball of dough back in the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1 hour, until dough is doubled in size.

While waiting two trays can be lightly sprayed with some olive oil spray (or greased in whatever method you prefer) and the topping for the pizza can be prepared. Preheat oven to 200 degree celsius.

I used about 150g bocconcini balls, sliced

30g grated parmesan cheese

12 cherry tomatoes sliced - I used the delectable Perino sweet snacking variety

6 swiss brown mushrooms, sliced

8 black olives, sliced

2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves, washed and torn.

When the dough is doubled in size, knock down, then divide into two. Knead each into a small bowl. Flour a rolling pin and roll each rounds. Place onto trays and use your hands to press the dough out, making the base quite thin. Then top with all the ingredients, except for the spinach leaves. Bake in oven for about 7 minutes or until the bases are crisp and golden and the cheese has melted and is golden as well. Remove from oven, sprinkle with spinach leaves. Then slice and serve. Bon appetit!