Home made pizza » Pizza Recipes

Leek, Tomato and Mushroom with Stracchino

Tim — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:05:52 +0000

I cooked a bit of an unusual pizza recently on a whim, and it turned out pretty well! I was inspired by a new (to me) cheese that I found at the markets. It’s called Stracchino, and is a soft cows milk cheese. It has a lovely delicate flavour with a hint of sweetness combined with a little tangy-ness. It melts amazingly, turning into a soft, sticky and creamy puddle.

I wanted to match this up with some ingredients that would complement the sweet cheese as well as something to contrast with the sweet flavours. This is what I came up with. The sweetness of cooked leeks is nice with this cheese and the contrasting texture of slightly crunchy/slippery leek with the smooth melted Stracchino worked well. Pieces of tomato and mushroom are little bursts of intense flavour to contrast with the smooth sweetness of the cheese and leek.

Ingredients

Pizza dough (I made one massive pizza with a 500g dough ball, you could also make 2 smaller ones with these quantities of toppings)
Pizza sauce
2 Leeks
Good handful of button Swiss brown mushrooms
2 Ripe tomatoes, diced
Paprika
300g or so Stracchino. You could use mozzarella if you absolutely can’t find this, it will still work well with these toppings

Method

Cut the green tops off the leeks and discard. Wash the leeks well. Dice and saute in olive oil with one crushed clove of garlic until translucent.
Tip the mushrooms into a hot pan, and leave them to cook until starting to brown, shaking to stop them burning.
Shape your pizza base and spread with a thin layer of sauce.
Scatter a few pinches of paprika over the tomato sauce. It’s amazing how much of a difference there is between a good quality paprika versus the ones I have tried from supermarkets!
Scatter the leek mixture evenly over the base.
Slice the cheese and tear each slice into chunks. Scatter evenly over the pizza. Make sure to leave some gaps so that the crust doesn’t get too moist.
Now scatter over the mushrooms and diced tomatoes. Don’t overdo it – a good guide is to end up with around 2 pieces of each per slice, on average.
Cook on a preheated pizza stone or any other cooking method of your choice.

Fig, Walnut & Mascarpone Pizza with Pear

Tim — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:16:56 +0000

This pizza recipe is a bit of a different combination. You wouldn’t quite call it a dessert pizza, but is quite light and sweet and can definitely finish off a meal. I make my own plum sauce from our trees, and my sauce is quite light and tangy. If you can’t make your own, try an asian style plum sauce.

Ingredients

Plum Sauce
A small handful of Walnuts (freshly shelled makes a difference)
Mascarpone
Dried Figs
Honey (optional)
Thin slices of fresh Pear
Sugar
Lime juice

Method

Drizzle plum sauce over your prepared pizza base. You don’t want the base totally covered.
Drizzle some honey if using – just some thin swirls.
Scatter the pizza with halved figs and halved walnut pieces.
Finish with chunks of mascarpone – I use teaspoon sized pieces.
Carefully slide into the preheated oven using your peel and bake until the crust is golden. Be careful with this one as the nuts can burn easily.
While the pizza is cooking, slice your pear thinly and put the pieces in a bowl with the juice of one lime, and a teaspoon of sugar. Toss together to coat. When the pizza is cooked, finish by dressing with the slices of fresh pear and serve!

Bacon and egg pizza

Tim — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:47:08 +0000

This pizza, as you might expect, is great if you have any leftovers for breakfast. The problem is trying not to finish the whole thing for dinner!

Use the best bacon and tomatoes that you can here and you will really notice the difference. I get nice smoked bacon from a local producer when I can, and keep it in the freezer just for pizza.

Ingredients

Pizza sauce
Mozzarella
Quarter of a brown onion, thinly sliced
2 Rashers of bacon, cut into large strips
1 Tomato, thinly sliced
1 Egg
Salt and pepper

Method

Prepare your pizza base according to your pizza recipe of choice. Place the base on a floured peel. Spoon over a thin layer of sauce and scatter with just a little shredded mozzarella.
Scatter the onion over the pizza first, and then add slices of tomato leaving plenty of room between each slice.
Add the bacon pieces in a generous layer over the pizza.
Slide the pizza into your preheated oven.
While the pizza starts to cook, crack the egg into a cup and add a pinch of salt. Whisk quickly with a fork, just enough to break up the yolk and mix with the white a little.
After the pizza has cooked for 5 minutes, remove it from the oven and carefully spoon the egg mixture in blobs over the pizza. Try to avoid going too close to the edge to avoid overflows. Look for dips in the toppings and try to fill these with egg.
Return the oven and continue cooking until the crust is golden brown.
Sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper and serve!

NOTE: As an alternative, you could crack whole eggs onto the pizza. Just be careful as it’s surprisingly easy to lose the whole egg when returning to the oven!

Onion, rosemary & blue cheese

Tim — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:46:04 +0000

The strength of this pizza is it’s simplicity and the combination of a small amount of powerful ingredients. The subtle sweetness and texture of the onions is lovely against the bitey blue cheese and the rosemary.

Use your favourite blue cheese here but don’t be afraid to experiment. A nice gorgonzola would be wonderful.

This is a good introduction to the pizza bianca, or white pizza, for those who have always used tomato sauce before!

Ingredients

1 Small brown onion, sliced finely into rings
Mozzarella, finely sliced
Blue cheese
Pecorino (or Parmesan if preferred)
2-3 tsp of fresh Rosemary leaves, chopped but not too finely.
Olive oil
Pizza dough

Method

Prepare your pizza bases.
Tear up two slices of mozzarella and scatter over the base.
Scatter rings of onion over the base.
Cut or crumble the blue cheese into small pieces and spread evenly over the base.
Tear up one or two slices of mozzarella and scatter these as well.
Finish by scattering over with a few pinches of rosemary and some grated fresh pecorino or parmesan.
Drizzle with olive oil and cook.

And here how it looks straight out of a wood fired oven!

Rosemary, onion and blue cheese pizza

Zucchini, mushroom & smoked cheese

Tim — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:47:21 +0000

This is a simple veggie pizza that packs a flavour punch. The earthy mushrooms work nicely with the sweet zucchini, and the smoky cheese is complemented by a little squeeze of fresh lemon.

Ingredients

Half a cup of your favourite mushrooms, roughly diced
Half a cup of zucchini (courgette), diced to the same size as the mushroom
1 Clove of finely chopped or mashed garlic
Olive oil
1 Good pinch fresh or dried Oregano
1 Tbsp Lemon juice
Smoked cheese
Mozzarella

Method

In a hot pan, add 1 Tbsp of olive oil and then the zucchini and oregano. Saute for 1-2 minutes until just starting to soften. Add the mushrooms and sautee for another minute.
Pour over the lemon juice, and stir well. Season with salt and a little freshly cracked black pepper and put the mixture aside until ready to use.
Top your prepared base with sauce and a thin layer of torn or grated mozzarella.
Scatter a layer of the zucchini and mushroom mixture over the pizza. If any juices have collected, avoid transferring them to the pizza with the rest of the mixture so the base doesn’t get too soggy.
Crumble or dice the smoked cheese and scatter the pieces over the pizza.
Finally, top with a little more mozzarella before baking.