Rocket Pizza
Why buy pizza when you can make your own? This simple recipe includes how to make dough for your pizza base and a tasty tomato sauce/paste. We put our homegrown rocket on the top (the pic to the right is of our pre-cooked pizza) but you can put anything you like. To help you get started we've included some tips for toppings.
Dough
All - purpose or bread flour
Instant yeast
Sea salt
Olive oil
Sauce/paste
Garlic
Whole peeled tomatoes
Brown sugar
Tomato paste
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Topping
Mozzarella cheese
Cheddar cheese
Pizza base
This recipe will make enough dough for two large (oven tray) size pizzas. If you don't need that much either halve the recipe or put half of the finished dough in the freezer to use later.
Combine 400gms of flour, 2 tsp of instant yeast and 2 tsp of salt in a food processor. Turn the machine on and pour 2 tbsp of oil and 240ml of water through the feed tube. Process until the dough forms a ball which is slightly sticky to touch. If it's still dry add a couple of tablespoons of water and process for a few more seconds.
Remove the dough from the processor and kneed it on a floured surface for a few seconds until it forms a round ball of dough. Put it in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rise somewhere warm until it doubles in size.
When your dough has doubled in size split it into two pieces. This is the point in which you can freeze one piece if you want. Then roll the dough out on a floured surface (like a silicon mat or on baking paper on a baking tray) until it's your desired pizza shape and size.
Tomato sauce/paste
Put two tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan on a low heat. Add two cloves of finely chopped garlic and cook until it becomes golden. Add about six homegrown tomatoes (or around one 400gm can of whole peeled toms), one tbsp of brown sugar, about three tbsp of tomato paste and some salt and pepper.
Cook it on a low heat for about 45 minutes to an hour. Stir it regularly so it doesn't stick to the bottom. You can tell the sauce is ready when it has reduced slightly and has a paste texture to it. Once it's cooled you can mash out the tomatoes to your desired consistency.
Topping
Cover your pizza base with a 50:50 mix of mozzarella and chedder cheese. Now it's time to add your toppings. You can keep things simple and include pieces of salami, rocket leaves (add them to the pizza a few minutes before its cooked if you don't want them to wilt) and cherry tomatoes. Obviously, don't put any salami on if you're after a vegetarian option.
Other tasty ideas include basil leaves, prosciutto and/or bocconcini. Or how about capsicum, pineapple, mushroom, roasted pumpkin and chorrizo, or silverbeet...the list is endless!
