Easy Pizzy

Dish and the Spoon has had a makeover.  I hope you like it.  I made it myself.  Its the kind of project that you could fiddle and tweak forever, like any recipe I guess, to make it just right.  So please, read, enjoy and then Subscribe, Follow, Like and Share.

I have been spending a lot of time at home and with my three children.  Its entertaining, exhausting and exciting.  To be honest, I am loving it.As the 2 older kids get a bit older, they are becoming more aware of what they really do and don’t like to eat (they eat most things).  My son is very curious in the kitchen and I am teaching him to try everything once and I am OK with him leaving it if he really doesn’t like it and we can try again in a few months.  I would say 4/5 times he is surprised that he likes it and wants more!

I have decided that once a week, I will encourage them to create their own plate of food so that they can make their own choice with meals on the odd occasion.

Last week was a kids antipasto plate; cheddar cheese, ham, boiled eggs, cucumber sticks, baby carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes (a new favourite) olives, bread sticks etc.. They love it and demolished the platter!  It’s well and truly summer here now, 43 degrees and rising, so a cold meal is a welcome change.

Tonight is pizza.  They love it and I get them to help make the dough, and then create their own masterpieces and enjoy the fruits of their labour.  I think half the toppings were eaten during the process! Pizzetta is definitely the  way to go for individual portions.  Kids made versions end up quite rustic which just create really tasty bits, crunchy and soft areas.

Its a great afternoon activity, and since we are almost house bound from the heat, it breaks up the monotony of how to keep them entertained indoors! I guess its also great for a cold winters day (oh how I miss thee!).  Again they get to select their own toppings and I find a rainbow of vegetables makes for a more enticing creation and they are more likely to make a ‘pretty picture’ and hopefully eat it too!

I LOVE my Polpo cook book by Russell Norman.  The pizza dough recipe was from here

I used to make my own sort of pizza sauce using a mix of 300ml tomato passata, 2 tablespoons of tomato pesto and a pinch of dried oregano.  I found a great shop bought substitute so that’s what I use now.

I find a fresh herb or two on a pizza really lifts the flavour and gives it a good boost.

And in my son’s words it’s ‘easy peasy lemon squeasy’.

Pizzetta

 

Print

Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

6 mins

Total time

1 hour 6 mins

 

P S - You could even make this into a calzone - just fill the pizza with topping on half and fold over the other half to create a closed pizza.

Author: Edwina Stuart

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

DOUGH

• 1 7g sachet of fast acting yeast
• 500g OO flour or strong bread flour
• 2 teaspoons of fine salt
• 300ml luke warm water
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  

TOPPINGS - really the options are endless, these are my favourites

• Parmesan, freshly grated on all pizzas
  

TRY Pepperoni

• Tomato pizza sauce
• Grated mozarella cheese
• Capsicum thinly sliced
• Salami / pepperoni / ham
• Mushrooms thinly sliced
• Olives sliced
• Fresh Basil
  

OR Bianca

• Grated smoked mozarella
• Potatoes slice wafer thin
• Red onion thinly sliced
• Rosemary, fresh and chopped
  

OR Cured Ham

• Fresh buffalo mozarella, sliced
• Prosciutto, Parma, Jambon very thinly sliced
• Basil and/or rocket to scatter over after cooking.

Instructions

1. Mix the flour, salt, yeast to combine.
2. Add the olive oil and water to the dry and work together to a ball.
3. At this point turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy.
4. Alternatively you can make the dough in a mixer Kitchen Aid with the dough hook for 5 minutes.
5. Place dough in a bowl and cover and rest in a warm place for 30 minutes minimum and it has doubled in size.
6. Take the dough and divide into 12 portions to create pizzetta. Use immediately or place in fridge with a damp cloth covering for up to 12 hours.
7. Oven should be pre heated to 250 degrees celcius
8. Roll out so dough is 2-3mm thick and cover with desired toppings.
9. I always start with tomato sauce then cheese (bianca doesn't have tomato sauce, so cheese first), then toppings.
10. I always finish the pizzas off with a sprinkle of grated parmesan
11. Pizzas will only take 6 minutes or so until cooked.

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