Pizza is one of those things that everyone loves but not many people make at home. Well that is a thing of the past! Victoria has created this foolproof pizza recipe where you even make your own dough! The key to this recipe is all in the kneading, which in our opinion can be very therapeutic... Enjoy!
The quantities provided above are averages only.
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
2
Yeast
700
Flour
(Contains Cereals containing gluten)
2
Yellow Pepper
1
Leek
2
Cherry Tomatoes
2
Diced Chorizo
8
Tomato Puree
2
Mozzarella
(Contains Milk)
1
Italian Style Herbs
LH: Mix your yeast with 400ml of warm (not hot) water and a pinch of sugar (if you have it). Put 600g of flour (roughly four-fifths of it - you should have some left over for later!) in a big mixing bowl and stir in 1 tsp of salt. Make a well in the middle of the flour big enough to hold the yeast mixture. Tip the yeast mixture and 1 tbsp of olive oil into the well.
LH: Start bringing the flour in from the sides with your hands and mixing it with the liquid. Keep bringing the flour into the liquid and mixing everything until you have a nice squidgy ball of dough.
Sprinkle half your remaining flour on a dry work surface and place the dough on here. Knead it for 5 mins (at least). Tip:Kneading simply means streeeettttching the dough to make it nice and springy. Hold down the end of the dough nearest to you with your hand and use the palm of the other hand to push the rest of the dough away from you in a long stretching motion, fold it in half and repeat... you’re now kneading!
Once the dough is ready, leave it in a bowl in a warm place for at least 15 mins to prove. Tip: For best results, you can leave it a little longer!
Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees. Remove the core from the yellow peppers and chop into 3cm chunks. Chop the base from the leek then slice it in half lengthways. Slice it thinly into half moon shapes. Chop the cherry tomatoes in half.
Put your chopped veggies on a baking tray and drizzle over 3 tbsp of olive oil, ½ tsp of salt and a good grind of pepper. Pop them in the oven to cook for 25 mins, tossing halfway through. At the same time, pop a large piece of tin foil on two baking trays, lightly oil them and put them in the oven, ready for the pizza bases.
Heat 2 tsp of olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat and once hot add the chorizo. Cook for a few mins until ever so slightly crispy at the edges, then take the pan off the heat.
When the pizza dough is ready, dust the work surface with the remaining flour, divide your dough into two balls (we're going to make 2 big pizzas!) and roll them out on the floured surface until nice and thin - roughly 25cm across. Tip: If you don’t have a rolling pin you can always use a wine bottle. Spread 4 tbsp of tomato purée thinly over each pizza base.
Once the veggies are soft and sweet, take them out of the oven and divide them between each pizza base. Turn your oven to 220 degrees. Tear the mozzarella on top of the vegetables and sprinkle over the Italian herbs and chorizo. Tip: To prevent the pizza base getting soggy, be careful not to add any excess water from the vegetables.
Pop both pizzas on top of the lightly oiled pre-heated baking trays, on the top shelf of the oven for 8-10 mins. Job done!