The Pizza of Possibilities
Pizza doesn’t have to be a naughty treat.
When you are totally in charge of all the ingredients, from the base to the toppings, you can control portion size, fat, salt, everything! And if you can’t agree on pizza toppings in your household, everyone can make their own portion sized pizza and put whatever they want on it. Let’s get inspired!
What day is a bad day for a pizza?
There’s no such day, is of course the correct answer. Most of us crave a pizza at some point, and it can often come when we’ve run out of ideas for what to cook, we’re feeling lazy, or we want some comfort food. And then the temptation to call and have a pizza delivered to your door is stroooong. And there’s not really anything wrong with that, it’s just that some of those pizzas leave you feeling, well, not great. And it’s often super expensive too!
The good news is that when you cook at home, not only will you save money - you can really take charge of what goes in the pizza. If you think about it, pizza - a bread base, some light toppings and a bit of quality cheese, does not have to be a terribly naughty meal, does it? You can even make a gluten free base, or play around with different types of flour to see what makes you feel good. If you are trying to eat less bread and carby stuff in the evening, you can also make a small pizza, or a really thin base and pretend you’re in Italy! Honestly, in the time it takes to wait for some of those deliveries you can easily make a pizza from scratch and have it out of the oven. And in a few years time, you will be a healthy, happy millionaire thanks to this recipe. You’re welcome.
Pizza of Possibilities
Makes 1 large or 2 smaller pizzas
Base
Make the dough recipe I shared on here for homemade tortillas (no really!) - prego, you have your base.
Topping ideas for you to pick from:
A tomato base, if you want, but it is not compulsory! Roughly 2 tablespoons of tomato purée (mix it with a bit of ketchup if you like) works great. You can also do a pesto base to replace the tomato.
Vegetables: Stuff I love on my homemade pizza are things like potato/sweet potato (pre-cooked), courgette, butternut squash, onion, red peppers, cherry tomatoes, aubergine. Pick whichever you fancy, or that you have to hand!
Other sassy toppings: pineapple (did I mention I am team pineapple?), olives, pine nuts, sultanas, for some heat: chopped up chillis, jalapeños, garlic…
Greens: spinach, curly kale, rocket (rocket I love, but I put it on after the pizza comes out of the oven, so it keeps that really strong flavour as much as possible).
Meat (if you do add meat toppings, these need to be cooked beforehand!): Bits of shredded chicken, leftover sausage meat, pepperoni, bits of salami, mince beef or pork, bacon, pancetta, a bit of leftover salmon…
CHEEEEESE: Mozzarella is my absolute favourite, cheddar is also great (grate, lol!), goats cheese is delicious, even parmesan can work! (Most decent vegan cheeses work really well on pizza. There are some awesome vegan mozzarellas out there)
Seasoning: a bit of salt and pepper, oregano is my absolute must for pizza, but some ground chilli, smoked paprika or similar works great too!
Sauces for some extra heat: you can splash a bit of tabasco or other hot sauces over your pizza when it comes out of the oven for some of that lovely heat!
Sauce for that takeaway experience: Garlic and herb - mix some finely chopped garlic and Italian herbs in with some creme fraiche and a drop of olive oil.
Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC (200ºC for fan oven). Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for a couple of minutes until the dough is nice and smooth. Let it rest under a kitchen towel for a few minutes. Roll out quite thin to make one large pizza base, or divide into 2 (or less, for tiny party portion pizzas!), onto baking paper. Place the base in the oven, middle shelf, for 5-10 minutes while you get your toppings ready.
Toppings time! Make sure any ingredients that need to be pre-cooked (meat, fish, potatoes) are cooked through. When you take the base out of the oven (you don’t want it too cooked as it’s going back in with the toppings on!), start with your tomato or pesto base, place a good bit in the middle and move it out in circles using the back of a spoon. Faaaancy!
Spread all your chosen toppings evenly around the pizza, including cheese and seasoning, and place it back in the oven for about 15 minutes until the base is nice and golden, and the cheese is melted. If you are making 2 or more smaller pizzas, you can put them in together - if they don’t all fit on one shelf you can put them in on two separate shelves and swap them around half way through so they get cooked evenly! Do note that smaller pizzas might take less time to cook. Every oven is different so keep a close eye on it! You know what a finished pizza looks like, right? That’s what I thought.
Let it rest for a couple of minutes after it comes out of the oven before you cut into it.
Serve with a side salad, some rocket on top, sauces of your choosing and try a bit of each other’s pizzas.
No guilt, only joy!
If you are feeling overwhelmed by all the choice, and need some straight up guidance, I can tell you what I put on my most recent homemade pizza: a tomato base, butternut squash, onion, aubergine, tomato, cheddar, some leftover turkey sausage, mozzarella and oregano on top. I then topped it with lots of rocket when it came out of the oven. It can honestly be as simple as choosing which leftovers you want to get rid of!
I’d love to hear and see how you got on, share what toppings you picked with me on Instagram and tag @TheFromScratchBody and hashtag #TheFromScratchBody so I don’t miss it!
