Home-made Thin crust Vegetarian Pizza

This home-made pizza made my little boy announce that from this day forward we are no longer allowed to order pizza for delivery...And my only response to that is, "Amen".

Basic Pizza dough

*Can make 4 quantities of pizza dough

2 sachets easy blend dried yeast

1/2 tsp caster sugar

125 ml/4 fl oz lukewarm water

425 g/15 oz plain flour plus extra for dusting

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

5-7 tbsp water

Crumble the yeast into a small bowl and sprinkle with the sugar. Add the water, then stir to dissolve the yeast and sugar. Cover with a clean tea towel and prove in a warm spot for 30 minutes (In my case, I usually use the oven, don't turn it on though).

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Make a hollow in the centre and pour the yeast mixture, salt,, olive oil and the water into it.

Knead everything into a smooth, silky dough, then shape it into a ball. Dust the ball with a little flour, cover and set aside in a warm place to rise for a further hour, or until doubled in volume.

Basic tomato sauce

* Amount is adequate for 4 pizzas

4 tbsp of olive oil

2 small onions

400 g/ 14 oz canned diced tomatoes

1 tsp dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy-based saucepan, add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the canned tomatoes and oregano and season with salt and pepper. Cook the sauce for about 30 minutes in medium-low heat.

100 g (or more) Mozzarella cheese

1 grilled bell pepper/capsicum

10 slices (or more) sun-dried tomatoes

a few basil leaves

a sprinkle of oregano

salt and pepper to season

Olive oil

Preheat the overn to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7 and grease four round pizza tins.

*I always use fan-force oven hence I lower the oven temperature by 20 degrees. I also use pizza stone because accordingly the stone spreads the temperature evenly and makes your crust crispy which is my personal preference by the way. Pizza stone is a commercially made round brink much akin to the traditionally made stone grill or wood stove preferred by Italians. I know that this is debatable as nothing is  more beautifully made than by making your pizza through stone grill or wood stove. But in the interest of home quick meal (although kneading and proofing for almost 2 hours is not quickie at all) and home-made goodies, a pizza stone is the closest to getting the real McCoy. 

Distribute the tomato sauce. Season with dried oregano, then sprinkle with mozarella cheese. You must control yourself putting tomato sauce and cheese though, too much will make your pizza soggy. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes.

*After 10 minutes, remove the pizza from oven, add and spread your bell pepper, and sun-dried tomatoes then sprinkle again with mozarella cheese, bake your pizza with the remaining 5 minutes.

Remove pizza from oven and stone, then sprinkle with basil leaves.

Stromboli

Or Savoury Roulade

I have lost count of the number of cookbooks I have.  I cut out recipes from newspapers, plastic packages and even from the back of tomato sauce cans. I still do this to this day and age. I also have a moleskine notebook with all my favourite recipes and a tiny notebook with my old recipes and recipes I have memorised from TV cooking shows tucked away somewhere. My beautiful Mom used to do these as well. She was the original sentimental queen. But hey, I am proud to wear on my sleeve and take to heart that I'm a chip off the old block indeed. 

This beautiful, delicious and savoury roulade is lifted from "Mama's Italian Cookbook, Just like mama used to make" cookbook and truly channels the Italian ragazza in me.


Buon appetito!

Makes 1 loaf

675g/1 lb 8 oz strong white flour

2 1/2 tsp easy-blend dried yeast

2 tsp sea salt flakes

3 tbsp olive oil, plus water for greasing

350 ml/ 12 fl oz lukewarm water

Filling

85g/ 3 oz thinly sliced Italian salami

300g/10 1/2 oz diced mozzarella cheese

handful of basil leaves

2 red peppers, roasted, peeled, deseeded and sliced pepper

Combine the flour, yeast and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt, then stir in the oil with enough water to make a soft dough.

Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Cover and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled in sized (I suggest keep it inside your cooled, dark and lurky (hahaha!) oven).

Knead lightly for 2-3 minutes, until smooth. Cover and leave to stand for a further 10 minutes. Roll out the dough to a rectangle about 38x25 cm/15x10 inches, and 1 cm/1/2 inch thick

Preheat the over to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7.

Grease a baking sheet. Spread the salami over the dough and top with the cheese, basil and red peppers. Season with pepper. Roll up firmly from the long side, pinch the ends and put on the prepared baking sheet. Join underneath, cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes

Pierce the roll deeply several times with a skewer. Brush with oil and sprinkle with the remaining salt. Bake in the preheated over for 30-35 minutes, until firm and golden. Leave to cool on a wire rack. Serve fresh and warm, cut into thick slices.