Snacks to Beer: Pizza

We’ve been making our own pizzas for a few years but have never really been happy with the results. We’ve tried pizza stones; posh mozzarella; tomato sauces from both fresh toms and tinned, cooked and uncooked.

Now, at last, we’ve settled on a recipe and an approach, and it’s one that illustrates the Premium Sausage Problem: the trick was using simpler, cheaper ingredients. It makes what we call ‘upmarket takeaway’ pizza — cheesy and salty, but with a crisp crust; think Pizza Express. By popular demand (one person asked), here’s the recipe.

Dough (for two pizzas)

• 300g plain white flour — we use the cheapest available.
• 1 teaspoon dried, fast-acting yeast. (Or 4-5 grams.)
• Half a teaspoon of salt (or to taste).
• Optional: a pinch of dried basil, oregano or mixed Italian herbs.
• 180ml of warm water.

1. Bung all the above in a food processor with a dough hook and knead in the machine for five or so minutes, or until it comes together into a nice, shiny looking ball of dough. If it looks too dry after two minutes, add water a drop at a time. (You can also make the dough by hand, which will be messier and take longer, if you prefer.)
2. Put a slug of olive oil in a large bowl.
3. Shape the dough into a neat ball and turn it in the oil then leave the dough in the bowl covered with clingfilm for a couple of hours.
4. Knock it back when it doubles in size and then leave for another hour or so.

Toppings

• Can/pack of passata (sieved, uncooked tomatoes).
• Pack of grated, hard mozzarella. (Not sloppy mozzarella balls.)
• Salt, dried basil, black pepper.
• Topping 1: anchovies and black olives. (TIP: crush the olives in your hand to help dry them out.)
• Topping 2: 10-12 slices from a chorizo ring (per pizza).
• Optional: basil leaves.

Putting it together

1. Get the oven on as hot as it will go.
2. Divide your dough in two and, on a floured surface, make a ball. Flatten it out with the heel of your hand or a heavily floured rolling pin until it’s a neat circle 20cm across. Flour a non-stick pizza tin (ours cost £4 each) and then press the dough out to the edges. It should end up pretty thin all over. Leave it for 10 minutes.
3. Take a ladle and spread a very thin layer of passata over each base — thin enough that you can see the dough through it in places — something like four or five tablespoons’ worth. Add salt, pepper and dried basil to taste. Leave for another 1o minutes.
4. Sprinkle cheese all over, just enough to cover.
5. Add other toppings in a way which pleases your eye. (But not basil leaves just yet!)
6. Once the oven is at maximum temperature, put both pizzas in. Our oven cooks them in bang on 11 minutes. In case your oven is better, set a timer for 9-10 and keep an eye on them.
7. When they’re done (crust beginning to blacken, cheese melted and darkening), take them out.
8. Add more black pepper and fresh basil leaves, if you’re using them.

Tweaks and customisation

• Other toppings that work well are pepper and sweetcorn (further cost-cutting: frozen work well); and small beef meatballs with cayenne and black pepper.
• If you find the pizza too crisp this way and like it ‘bendier’, turn the oven down to c.200 degrees C and cook for a few minutes longer.
• If you really want to use mozzarella balls, try slicing them and leaving them to drain on a cloth for a while before adding them.

Beer? Oh, yeah, this is a beer blog, isn’t it? Alright then: we find that pizza goes particularly well with Saison Dupont but, actually, pizza works with pretty much any beer you fancy.