A Rare Savoury Entry: Pizza Dough

This is a baking blog, which seems typically to involve only sweet things, but, I do like some variation and so thought it might be good to include pizza. Baking pizza dough is a much easier task than it appears. This recipe especially, is very simple and I find kneading surprisingly relaxing. This dough makes two large pizzas, probably enough to easily feed four and you can cover with whatever you desire. Here, I have done a tomato base with mozzarella cheese and basil, but of course, there are far more adventurous options – try using pumpkin, pine nuts, cooked onions and blue cheese, or salami, mozzarella and basil or even pear, ham and parmesan.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon instant dried yeast

1 teaspoon salt

400 g plain flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup luke warm water

METHOD

Mix yeast, salt and flour using a food processor. Mix water and 1 tablespoon olive oil and pour down the funnel of the electric mixer with the motor running. The dough should begin to come together in a big sticky ball. If the mixture feels too wet – i.e. it sticks to your fingers – add a little more flour with the motor running. If it doesn’t come together, pour a little more oil (cautiously) down the funnel until it begins to combine. Sprinkle your bench with flour and transfer the dough on top. Knead until smooth and elastic (approx 10 minutes) and then transfer to a greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and allow to rise in a draught-free place until doubled in size (about 1 ½ hours). Knock back dough and then gently fold in four and allow to rise again, covered, for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 220 degrees and heat the trays you intend to bake the pizza on until searingly hot (say 30 minutes). Meanwhile, cut your dough in two and roll out in to two large, flat discs. Take your trays out of the oven, quickly move the dough on to them and cover with topping. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cooked.

March: Month of the Passionfruit

Passionfruit Semifreddo! I had a huge bag of new seasons passionfruit and so I made this incredible recipe from Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion. If you have never had semifreddo before, it is ultra creamy and one thousand times better than any bought ice-cream. When you do it with passionfruit it is fantastically tangy. You will never want bought ice-cream again after eating this.

INGREDIENTS

8 egg yolks (these were left over from the pavlova)

1 cup sugar

½ cup strained passionfruit juice (from about eight heavy passionfruit)

2 cups cream

METHOD

Using electric beaters, whisk egg yolks until light and creamy. Dissolve sugar in passionfruit juice over a moderate heat, and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour hot syrup onto whipped egg yolks in a slow, steady stream, then beat mixture until cool. Carefully but thoroughly fold in cream and pulp from one passionfruit. Pour in to a large tin (approx 1.2 litres) and freeze for 5 hours until hard. Scoop out large chunks and serve.

Passionfruit juice and sugar dissolving together over heat.

The combined syrup and yolks.

Chocolate Pavlova

I love all things Pavlova. There is rarely a pavlova variation which I do not want to gobble down at a super human speed. But, forgetting the eating part (just for a moment) pavlova is very easy to make. It has less ingredients than a cake, it can be left alone to cook and it’s easily assembled. Oh, and, of course, it’s delicious. Smother with cream and raspberries and it is unbeatable.

INGREDIENTS

6 egg whites

300 g caster sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sieved

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

50 g dark chocolate, finely chopped

500 ml cream

500 g raspberries (I use frozen)

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a large, flat baking tray with baking paper. Beat the egg whites until satiny peaks form and then gradually beat in the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over the cocoa and the vinegar and then add the chopped chocolate. Gently fold the whole mass together until thoroughly combined. Mound on to a baking tray and shape in to a fat, thick disk. Put your meringue mountain in the oven and then immediately turn the temperature down to 140 degrees. Cook for one to one and a quarter hours. When cooked, the meringue will be crisp and hollow on the outside, but the inside should still be soft and meringue-y. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly, leaving the pavlova inside to cool down completely.

When you are ready to serve, edge the paper away from the bottom of the meringue carefully, until free. This can be quite tricky, so you can invert the whole disc in you prefer. You will find the pav is quite crumbly, but don’t worry, it will all be swathed in cream later anyway. Whisk your cream until thick but still wobbly and spread generously over the top of the meringue. Scatter with raspberries and gobble!