Great Pizza Toppings and a Simple Pizza Dough
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Last night’s dinner was inspired by a joke my husband made. I was making my simple dough and pondering on what pizza toppings I would have on mine. I was thinking about using smoked haddock and he said …
“I suppose it would be a finnan crispy!”
Get it?
If not read about Finnan Haddock here!
Well that made me determined to make one so that I could share this bon mot with the world.
Firstly I don’t know if I’ve posted my simple pizza dough recipe before but either way, here it is now …
Simple Pizza Dough
I say this recipe serves two but that is just a guideline. The beauty of making your own dough is you can choose to have a crisp thin base (I roll mine so thin there are crunchy bubbles in the crust once cooked), a thicker more substantial base (for real men!) or even a deep dish pizza with a ridge around the edge to hold more filling.
For us this recipe makes one small, thin and crispy pizza and one enormous thick based pizza. Neither of them are round!
Serves 2 (ish – see above!)
225ml warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 pkt easy dried yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
approx 325g plain flour
scant ½ tsp salt
a little more olive oil
a handful of flour – wholemeal if possible
~ Stir together in a large bowl (or mixer bowl) the water and the sugar till the sugar has dissolved.
~ Sprinkle over the yeast and set aside in a draught free place for 10 minutes or so till it has started eating the sugar and become bubbly.
~ Stir (or slowly mix in with the mixer) the olive oil, salt and flour into the yeast mixture, to make a sticky but workable dough.
~ Add more flour if necessary until you have a soft dough then knead (or continue running the mixer) for a few minutes.
~ Lightly oil a fresh bowl, form the dough into a soft ball and put it into the greased bowl, turn the dough to coat with oil, cover loosely with a clean cloth or put a clean plastic bag over it and stand in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size. This takes about an hour and you don’t have to sit with it, you can do what you like while it is rising.
~ Preheat the oven to 425ºF/220ºC/200ºC fan/gas 7.
~ Prepare two baking sheets by sprinkling with wholemeal flour (or normal if you haven’t got any) and then shaking to coat evenly.
~ Knock the dough back and knead in the oil clinging to it.
~ Divide into two and roll or push into shape on the baking trays.
~ Top with whatever you have planned.
~ Bake till crisp and golden and wonderful.
Creative Pizza Toppings
Pizza, whether you make your own simple pizza dough yourself or buy it in, is a great vehicle for all sorts of leftovers and a great opportunity to get creative.
Here are some homemade pizza toppings I have done in the past …
Finnan Crispy Pizza
I had a piece of cooked smoked haddock leftover from making kedgeree the day before and this is just a loose description of what I did because, of course, it was just for me (a bit too fancy for my darling – he had minced beef AND sausages on his pizza) and I made it up as I went along, so …
~ Halve a leek, slice and cook very gently in butter, covered by a butter wrapper and then a lid, till super tender – see here for the best way to cook onions and copy proedure.
~ Add 60ml double cream plus a good grating of Gran Padano and simmer till thick.
~ Cool.
~ As the fish is already cooked par-bake the pizza base.
~ Spread with the cooled leek sauce.
~ Scatter with cooked and flaked (leftover) smoked haddock.
~ Sprinkle with freshly grated Gran Padano and finish baking.
I prettied it up with a handful of beetroot salad, took its picture and ate it!
Roasted Windfall, Chorizo and Cheddar Pizza
Blue Cheese and Red Grapes Pizza
Simply spread a softish blue cheese such as St. Agur or Cambozola over your pizza base, then top with sautéed red grapes and bake to gorgeous. A glass of red wine is compulsory with this.
Leftover cooked New Potato Pizza with Spring Onions
Here is how I made this leftover new potato pizza.
Geordie~Italian Fusion Pizza!
My aforementioned man is a Geordie lad so ham and pease pud is a standard in our house – see here for how to make easy, cheap and delicious pease pudding. This was so very much deliciouser than I was expecting! I spread the base with pease pudding, topped it with sliced ham, baked till crisp and served it with a green salad all drizzled with balsamic glaze.
So, as you can see, a pizza doesn’t have to have a tomato sauce spread on it, any appropriate goo will do! Nor is cheese de rigueur, I didn’t use any with the pease pudding pizza. In short, any complementary collection of leftovers can be spread or scatted on a pizza base to make a delicious new meal, so go for it!
Flammeküeche (aka Tarte Flambée)
This is a flatbread from the Alsace region of France made with crème fraîche, diced smoky bacon and thinly sliced raw onion. I, however, made it with cooked onion and prosciutto and called it Faux Flammeküeche.
Leftover Pizza Dough
My simple pizza dough also makes a very acceptable bread!
Having made myself a single pizza (real man not in the mood) I had half the dough left so I mixed in some leftover caramelised red onions, formed it into a rustic loaf shape and allowed it to rise again. I baked it at 400ºF/200ºC/180C fan/gas 6 till it was golden and sounded hollow if whopped on the bottom. Delicious!
Speaking of leftovers …
I’d just like to mention that my book of delicious ideas for making the most of leftover is now in its second edition. Originally called The Leftovers Handbook the new editions is now called Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers.
Suzy Bowler
Having been a somewhat itinerant chef for over 30 years I was amazed, on my return to the UK, at the blatant food waste that now seems to be rife in the country; amazed and irritated. So much so that I decided to start a blog about spontaneous cooking from leftovers to show people that there are great alternatives to throwing food away.
