Using Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s magic dough recipe as the base, I devised this scrumptious pizza the other day.
I adapted his pizza dough recipe slightly, using part wholemeal flour. But you could of course use any pizza base you like.
Pizza base:
- 125g plain white flour
- 125g wholemeal flour
- 250g strong white flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp instant dried yeast
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra
- 325ml warm water
Sieve flours, salt and yeast into a large bowl. Stir in oil and water and bring together to form a dough. Put on a floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Put in a clean bowl, and coat in a little oil. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for a couple of hours in a warm place.
When it’s risen, punch the dough and divide into three portions. Roll out each piece until nice and thin. Place on a floured baking tray, add topping (see below), and bake at 200°C for 10-15 minutes. (In this case I used only two thirds of the dough, plenty for two large pizzas, and rolled the rest into four small balls which I then froze and used for garlic naan a few days later.)
Topping for 2 pizzas:
- 1 large zucchini, sliced and lightly steamed in the microwave
- 1 aubergine, (or other squash instead), also sliced and lightly steamed in the microwave
- 2 onions, thinly sliced and fried gently in a little olive oil until soft and translucent
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed, in 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup fresh herbs (I used mainly basil, and a little thyme, rosemary and sage)
- 100g ricotta
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan/cheddar cheese
- salt and black pepper
Chop the herbs and mix with the ricotta, then spread over your pizza bases. Scatter caramelised onions, and the zucchini and aubergine over the ricotta. Drizzle garlicky oil over that and top with a sprinkling of parmesan. Season with a little salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Tip: If it’s too much for one meal this tastes absolutely wonderful cold a day later right out of the refrigerator! 😀
Words and Herbs 