home made pizza

I came across a recipe for pizza by Gail Duff about ten years ago and have used it ever since. Some of the quantities have changed a little since then, and what goes into the topping depends on what I have in the fridge at the time. If you want a pizza in a hurry you might be better ordering a takeaway as this is not fast food but it is full of flavour and goodness. And who doesn't like flavour and goodness?

To make the dough mix 300g strong white flour, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 175 ml water together with ½ tsp dried yeast. Mix the ingredients together well by hand or in a bread machine and leave to rise for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile peel and slice 2 onions and peel and crush 2 cloves of garlic. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a wide-based pan over a low to medium heat and add the onions and garlic. Cook slowly for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should soften and change colour but should not brown. If in doubt turn the heat right down and cover the pan.

While the onions are cooking you can prepare the remaining toppings. I often add some mushrooms and thyme or basil to the onion mixture after 15 minutes with about 30ml white wine. If you use wine leave the lid off the pan at this stage to allow the mixture to thicken. This should take about 10 minutes. By now your kitchen will be filled with divine smells.

My pizzas usually have mozzarella on them these days but Edam cheese works really well too as it goes gooey and stringy when baked and tends to have a bit more bite than mozzarella. Cut up one piece of mozzarella into small bite-sized chunks. Halve about a dozen cherry tomatoes or slice 3 or 4 large tomatoes. A bit of grilled pepper is also a tasty treat to add to the top of the pizza.

When your onion mixture is cooked and you have prepared the cheese and tomato, the bread dough should be ready to roll or stretch out into a pizza shaped slab of dough. Use olive oil to grease a baking sheet and save a little to drizzle on top of the pizza dough. If you have the patience leave the dough to rise again, but if you are hungry you will not suffer any ill effects if you proceed immediately with adding the toppings and baking straightaway.

Tip the cooked onions onto the pizza dough and spread them out so the almost reach the edges. Then add the cheese (Edam sliced thinly or mozzarella) and a handful of olives. Finally arrange the tomato halves or slices on top of the cheese, and any other toppings you wish to use. Season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper before baking in a hot oven (Gas mark 7) for 30 minutes. You will probably find the dough has risen very well round the edges and formed a lovely crust, even if you skipped the second proving time.

This pizza is very filling and a hearty side salad will complement it very well.

I do not have any photos of this pizza. It always disappears too fast!