Fridays are fabulous for many reasons: it’s the Preekend (as it’s fondly known here), the fizz is chilling in the fridge & thoughts turn to dinner. Pizza is very much loved in our house & we’ve tried them all over the years – the fresh, the frozen & the takeaways. But nothing beats making your own, getting everyone involved & having a relaxing meal (pizza is definitely relaxed & a great way to wind down the week!).
Because I’ve been baking up a storm, I like to delegate the dough making on a Friday night to the guys & my Husband has become Chief Pizza Dough Maker. Usually, I’ll pour us each a glass of Prosecco to sip (in “scary saucers”, which my Husband can fit his face in) & while he’s kneading the dough, I make the sauce & we catch up on each other’s news & gossip. Hands washed, aprons on & here’s how to make your own!
What you need for the dough:
12g fresh yeast or equivalent dry yeast – Allinson’s is good (read the packet directions for amounts)
330ml lukewarm water (stick your finger in it & it should be the same temperature, not hot or cold, just right)
500g strong white bread flour (plus extra for kneading, etc)
1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (optional)
A good pinch of sea salt
What to do:
Dissolve the yeast in the water, stirring with a fork to ensure it’s all mixed.
Mix the sea salt & flour in a large bowl, then add the yeast water & olive oil, stirring well to create a dough.
Bring the dough together with your hands, wiping it around the bowl to remove any excess on the sides. Sprinkle a little flour around the bottom of your bowl (all will become clear later on!).
Dust your worktop with a bit of flour, then tip the dough out onto it.
Knead well for ten minutes using firm strokes, pushing away from you with the heel of your hand & then folding back on itself, turning & repeating. This gives it (& you!) a good workout & makes it smooth, elasticated & easy to work with.
Once kneaded (it should spring back from the touch), place in the floured bowl & cover loosely with a piece of lightly oiled clingfilm. It doesn’t need to be sealed tight – your dough will double in size, so needs room to grow. As long as there are no gaps around the edge of the bowl, it should be fine. Put it in a warm, draught-free place to prove for half an hour – I tend to put mine in the airing cupboard, except when it’s Summer & then it sits on the worktop in the kitchen. Proving is where the dough is allowed to rest from all that exercise & all that kneading you’ve done will ensure it rises well.
Once the dough is proving, turn on your oven to 230*C to ensure it’s really hot by the time you are ready to start cooking the pizzas. This is when I prepare my tomato sauce & get chopping the toppings. 
Usually, I have a couple of jars of my homemade tomato sauce in the fridge, leftover from the various pasta dishes I’ve made in the week. This sauce was something I started making when I was 17, in my own kitchen with a couple of Italian cookbooks for inspiration. Fast forward 30 years & it has become a staple in my repertoire, my signature sauce & a flexible foundation for many of my recipes – especially pizza! Unfortunately for you lovely people, I can’t share it (secret family recipe & all that, you know the score).
However, if I don’t have time or any pre-made jars, I make this simple version. It’s just a tin of Italian plum tomatoes, gently squished by hand in a bowl (just get your hands in there & do it – you’ll wash). Add a little sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, a tiny pinch of sugar (to balance the acidity), a little shredded fresh Basil & that’s it, no cooking required! Make it into your own signature sauce – add a little chopped fresh garlic or a sprinkle of shredded fresh chilli, if you’re fancy it being a bit fiesty. It’s your sauce – create your own masterpiece & just play around with different flavours until it’s how you want it.
By now, your dough will be ready to shape into pizzas. Dust your worktop with a little flour & remove the dough from the bowl – it will be quite sticky now, so just scrape it around the bowl to remove it all. Knock it back to remove any large air bubbles (I throw it on the worktop a couple of times & give it a quick knead for a few seconds).
Before you start worrying about throwing spinning sheets of dough in the air like a professional Pizzaiolo, just remember you’re in your kitchen at home & how you do it really is up to you. Cut the dough into quarters & set aside three of them on a floured worktop.
Take the piece left & shape it into a ball, then work into a circle (or whatever shape you want) with your fingers, pushing it out on the worktop, or use a rolling pin – whatever you feel comfortable doing. Sprinkle a little coarse semolina onto a flat baking tray & transfer your dough onto it. Set aside while you do the same for the other dough balls.
Once the dough is stretched out, I smooth a large spoonful of the sauce over the top, leaving half an inch around the edge & it’s ready to be adorned with beautiful toppings! Obviously, we all have our favourites – mine is spinach, ricotta & sundried tomatoes – shiny green swirls of wilted spinach & splodges of ricotta are decorated with snipped up, ruby red sundried tomatoes. I am also a bit partial to Proscuitto & Pepperoni with a few plump, roasted pepper pieces on top (I buy the jars, because I really don’t have the time to faff about roasting my own & they really are quite lovely!).
Finally, I add a little torn mozzarella, a dusting of Parmesan & a pinch of pungent Oregano. I only use a small amount of each topping, because pizza shouldn’t be drowning in them – it will never cook properly if it’s stacked like a skyscraper & your base will just be soggy (& nobody likes a soggy bottom).
Bake in a very hot oven, a minimum of 230*C, for about 5-8 minutes, until the melted cheese has oozed into all the gaps, before it crisps up & turns a gorgeous golden hue. If you have a pizza oven, it will take about 3 minutes because they get to much higher temperatures (I’m going to have to invest in one, especially with the amount of pizza I make!).
Slide it onto a chopping board, slice it up & serve!
Another tip is to get yourself a proper chopping board specifically for pizza, because they also double up as a serving tray & everyone can help themselves to a slice (just use a couple of napkins – no plates to wash up!).
Have a go at making your own Friday night treat – it’s a pizza cake! Stay hungry! Aimee 😉 x
There is something heavenly about the heady fragrance of fresh, ripe juicy strawberries that always makes me think of Summer. When my son was young, we would spend many a sunny afternoon in a strawberry field, gently plucking plump berries from their leafy beds & enjoying their tantalising fragrance on the way home, eagerly looking forward to devouring them!
Now we all know they go very well sandwiched in a scone with jam & cream (if you don’t, you’re missing out), so I like to include these beautiful berries in other delights too.
For a quick impromptu dessert (unexpected guests will love this), whip up a fluffy, fat-free sponge & layer between thinly sliced strawberries & piped cream. It looks like you’ve spent all afternoon baking, but actually takes about 20 minutes from start to finish & most of that time is spent on the assembly! Dust it with icing sugar & if you really want to make it look extra fancy, make a pattern in the sugar with a hot metal skewer across the top (wear an oven glove though – the scent of burning fingers is never attractive).
family call it this because the Italian name is crostata di mandorle e fragoline (please note, no fraggles were harmed in the making of this treat). Of course, the pastry has to be homemade with soft butter, eggs, sugar & flour – if you’re going to do these beauties justice, have a go at making your own. I’ve used various types of flour, 
Another favourite of mine are strawberry jam tarts – I have my own take on these jammy little pastry cups & this is for those over-ripened fruits, the slightly squishy, sad looking ones that have been living in your fridge for a few days & need eating. Put a spoonful of the squished berries in the bottom of pastry cases, 
spoon a little warm, seedless jam over them (only half fill, as jam tends to grow), then bake. Once cooled, just add a swirl of soft cream & a sprig of mint! I try to keep a few in an airtight container for the next day, but they somehow evaporate …. !
During my extreme shopping trip today (which is where I hit three supermarkets before 10.00am like some sort of ninja with a trolley), a couple of people asked me about baking bread & how come it’s so hard/messy/time-consuming (you get the picture). My reply: it’s not (well, it’s not the way I do it).
Baking bread is like creating some sort of magic in the kitchen! There really is nothing quite like that heady, warm scent of a freshly baked loaf – especially if you’ve made it yourself. Both my Husband & Son bake bread – I taught my Son this recipe when he was at junior school (which he proudly told his teacher was better than her packet bread mix & refused to make it – she wasn’t impressed!).
Fold it gently again to distribute the seeds/fruit in the dough, shape it to fit your loaf tin & pop it in. Repeat with the other dough ball. Cover with the oiled clingfilm & leave for a further half hour to prove again.
