precarious panther

Pizza has become somewhat of a staple food throughout the world due to the delicious union of ingredients, variety of different flavours, and it’s “simplicity”. Unfortunately, the majority of pizzas eaten these days are mass produced and rushed which means they aren’t given the time to mature, are usually pumped full of flavour altering preservatives and end up tasting stale and uninspiring.

Lately there has been a renewed interest in gourmet pizza (especially around Sydney where I live) and wood fired gourmet pizza shops have been popping up and giving the ingredients the attention they deserve, creating delicious pizzas worthy of the name.

An important thing to remember with pizza is that there is no one crust to rule them all. Crusts range from soft, firm, crispy, thick, thin, doughy, dry and bubbly and all sorts of combinations of these. Each of these different types of crusts create different pizza experiences and can shift the focus of the flavours depending on the toppings used. The crust that I’ve made for the below pizzas is thick with a very crispy skin and fluffy soft inside, and the oregano and basil give it an interesting flavour. Semolina is added to increase the gluten which is important for thick, soft crusts.

One mistake often made when making pizzas is overlooking the importance of a good crust. No matter what you choose to dress your pizzas if you don’t start with a good, fresh crust the entire pizza will suffer – in the same way that no matter what you put on a stale bread it will still taste like stale bread. Preprepared crusts from supermarkets (and even worse – frozen pizzas) always result in mediocre final products. If you don’t have the time or energy to make your own crusts – then stick to fresh breads as a base such as focaccia, turkish bread or lebanese bread. Making your own crusts is time consuming (and exhausting!) but the fresh, soft crust of home made dough is second to none.

Another important note is not to go overboard with toppings. Great pizza is a perfect balance between toppings and crust and if you pile toppings up too much it compromises the flavour and ends up tasting like a trough of melted cheese and meat rather than that perfect pizza flavour.

You will have much better results using a preheated pizza stone/uncoated tile however I’m yet to buy one so for the below pizzas I precooked the crusts in a hot oven prior to the toppings.

Ingredients

Basil & Oregano Thick, Soft Pizza Crust (Two Large Pizzas)
3 Cups Baking Flour 1/2 Cup Semolina Flour (*Found in breakfast cereal section with porridge oats at the supermarket) 1 Cup Water (Should be hot but not too warm to comfortably put your finger in) 2 Tbs Instant Yeast (If using normal yeast you will need to soak it first) 2 Tbs Honey 1 Tbs Caster Sugar 1/4 Cup Olive Oil Extra 1 Tbs Olive Oil 1/2 Tsp Ground Sea Salt 1 Tsp ground Oregano 1 Tsp Dried Basil Leaves
Lamb & Feta with Rocket and Lime (One Large Pizza)	Four Cheeses (One Large Pizza)
Lamb, Feta, Rocket and Lime Pizza 400g Stir-Fry Lamb Strips Small Tub (220g) Bocconcini 2 Tbs Pesto Two handfuls of Rocket 2 Tbs Lime Juice 100g Danish Feta Cheese	Four Cheese Pizza 100g Danish Blue Cheese (Or other Crumbly/Strong Blue) 100g Danish Feta Cheese Small Tub (220g) Bocconcini 100g Grated Vintage Cheddar 1 Tbs Crushed Garlic
BBQ Smoked Chicken & Mushroom (One Large Pizza)	Hawaiian (One Large Pizza)
BBQ Smoked Chicken & Mushroom Pizza 2 Tbs BBQ Sauce Two smoked chicken breasts 1 Cup cooked, diced bacon 1 Cup sliced, peeled white mushrooms 100g thinly sliced Csabai salami (or other mild salami) 100g thinly sliced Cabanossi 200g Grated Mozzarella cheese	Hawaiian Pizza with Extra Thick Crust 100g diced pineapple 1 Cup cooked, diced bacon 2 Tbs tomato paste 200g Grated Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Basil & Oregano Thick, Soft Pizza Crust

1. Place the 1 Cup warm water, 2 Tbs honey, 1 Tbs sugar, and 1/2 Tsp salt into a large bowl and combine until the honey and sugar has dissolved.
2. Add the 2 Tbs instant yeast and mix so that all of the yeast is covered in the honey water.
3. * If you have not used instant yeast, you will need to let this mixture stand for about five minutes before proceeding so that the yeast can activate
4. Add the 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 Tsp dried basil, 1 Tsp dried ground oregano, and sift in one cup of baking flour as well as the 1/2 cup of Semolina and combine the ingredients well
5. Sift in the remaining 2 cups of bakers flour and mix well until a thick dough is formed. If you have an electric beater with dough hooks (or a bread machine with dough only setting) you can make this step easier, otherwise kneed the ingredients together with dry, clean hands. If the ingredients are too dry to combine into a single ball add 1Tbs warm water (at a time) until it hold together.
6. Once the ingredients have combined into a thick, doughy single ball tip it out onto a well floured board (or bench). The ball will likely be sticky to begin with but will become more firm once it has been kneaded on the floured surface.
7. The dough now needs to be kneaded for 10-15 minutes to align the gluten and prevent it from being crumbly. The easiest way to knead the dough is to squish the dough together into a ball and then press it down with the heels of your hands whilst slightly pushing it forward to roll the dough slightly under your palms. Fold the squashed disk on top of itself and repeat this process until the dough is quite elastic and firm. Add small amounts of flour to the board/bench if you run out and the dough is still sticky.
   

   Crust Dough

8. Reform the dough into a ball and try to prevent having any folds in the ball by tucking the dough up under itself.
9. Clean and dry the mixing bowl we used before, then place the ball of dough into it. Coat the ball with one Tbs of olive oil then cover it gently with some cling wrap (The ball will expand to more than twice its size, so don’t wrap it completely. We just want to keep the surface from drying out).
10. Allow the dough to expand for one hour in a warm place.
11. The dough will be two to three times its original size after this time, however the bubbles of air are too large and not evenly distributed through the dough. Take the ball out of the bowl and place it onto a floured board/bench and gently squash it down and knead it again for a minute. It will likely be sticky again due to the olive oil so you may need some more flour.
12. Place the ball back into the bowl and recover with the wrap. Let it rest for another hour.
13. Preheat the oven to 250*C. It’s important that the oven is hot to create a crispy surface and avoid the crust expanding too much.
14. Cut the pizza dough into two pieces and use each piece to line two large greased pizza trays. You can use a rolling pin to flatten each half  into a circle before putting it in the tin, and then pressing it with your fingers (or do a spinning pizza toss!)
15. Bake in the hot oven for 10 minutes or until the surface has browned slightly. Be careful not to bake them for too long as they will cook further when we put them in with their toppings.

Lamb & Feta Pizza with Rocket and Lime

The lime and pesto on this pizza combine create a delicious summery flavour that makes this my favourite of the four.

1. Brown the lamb strips in a fry pan with a splash of olive oil. The meat should be evenly browned but not entirely cooked through as it will cook further in the oven.
2. Dress the prepared pizza base with 2 Tbs of pesto by smearing it with a spoon in circles on the crust. Leave some uncoated space at the edges of the crust.
3. Evenly space the browned lamb strips on the pesto.
4. Scatter pieces of danish feta cheese evenly around the pizza, and then add the drained Bocconcini.
5. Bake in the oven (still at 250*C) for approximately 10 minutes, until the Bocconcini has melted.
6. Cover the cooked pizza with the two handfuls of rocket and drizzle with the lime juice.
7. Slice into eight even pieces, then serve immediately.

Four Cheeses Pizza

This is my grandmothers favourite. The blue cheese and garlic gives it a strong bite. Very filling

1. Smear the crushed garlic around the pizza crust, leaving some uncoated space near the edges
2. Dice the blue cheese and feta (both of which will be crumbly) and cover the pizza evenly with them.
3. Sprinkle the vintage cheddar on top of the blue cheese and feta. Avoid clumping too much together as it will overpower the other ingredients.
4. Drain the Bocconcini and place them well spaced around the pizza on top of the other ingredients (they will help glue it all together)
5. Bake in the oven (still at 250*C) for approximately 10 minutes.
6. Slice into eight even pieces, then serve immediately.

BBQ Smoked Chicken with Mushroom Pizza

Smoked, boneless chicken fillets can be bought from most supermarkets in the cold prepackaged meats section. Alternatively smoked ham works just as well. The BBQ sauce makes this pizza very sweet.

1. Slice/cube the smoked chicken breasts into smallish bite sized pieces.
2. Smear the pizza base with the Two Tbs BBQ sauce leaving some uncoated space near the edges
3. Evenly distribute the sliced mushrooms onto the bbq sauce.
4. Add the Csabai salami, smoked chicken, bacon, and cabanossi and space it evenly across the pizza base.
5. Sprinkle the Mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake in the oven (still at 250*C) for approximately 10 minutes.
7. Slice into eight even pieces, then serve immediately.

Hawaiian

An easy favourite.

1. Smear the tomato paste onto the pizza crust, leaving some uncoated space near the edges
2. Evenly distribute the pineapple pieces and bacon
3. Sprinkle the Mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake in the oven (still at 250*C) for approximately 10 minutes.
5. Slice into eight even pieces, then serve immediately.

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