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

1. 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.
2. Tip the mushrooms into a hot pan, and leave them to cook until starting to brown, shaking to stop them burning.
3. Shape your pizza base and spread with a thin layer of sauce.
4. 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!
5. Scatter the leek mixture evenly over the base.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Cook on a preheated pizza stone or any other cooking method of your choice.

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

1. Drizzle plum sauce over your prepared pizza base. You don’t want the base totally covered.
2. Drizzle some honey if using – just some thin swirls.
3. Scatter the pizza with halved figs and halved walnut pieces.
4. Finish with chunks of mascarpone – I use teaspoon sized pieces.
5. 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.
6. 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!

The problem with using a lot of toppings on a thin style base is that the base doesn’t support a lot of weight. It can also get soggy if overloaded. Using just a few toppings lets you play off different flavours against each other – you can really come up with some unique combos of just a few good ingredients.

A good rule of thumb is to use no more than 3 separate toppings, as well as cheese and/or sauce. Try to think of interesting flavours that will work well together. A good way to come up with a new idea for a pizza is to use some of the key ingredients in a favourite non pizza dish!

Whatever toppings you decide on, make sure not to lay them on too thickly. Aim for a single layer of all of the ingredients combined, on top of your cheese/sauce layer – this means that you might have to leave space between each ingredient.

This is a quick series showing a the process of putting together a simple prawn, tomato and basil pizza made on a gluten free base. The prawns were marinated in olive oil with a clove of mashed garlic whisked in. Delicious vine ripened cherry tomatoes were used – good quality tomatoes make a big difference and are worth the extra cost.

1. A layer of sauce is spread over the base. Leave a rim around the edge for visual appeal and so you have a good place to hold the slices. When applying sauce, try to leave a few spaces with less or no sauce, so that the base doesn’t get too soggy when it cooks.



2. Scatter a sparse layer of mozzarella over the sauce. The purpose of this layer is really just to help hold the toppings to the base. Using grated cheese is also perfectly fine but I like using slices torn into pieces to vary the appearance and texture a little.



3. If you are using fresh herbs, it is best to put them underneath the other ingredients to stop them overcooking and drying out. Here, a handful of torn basil leaves are pressed into the dough.



4. Finally, an even layer of the prawns and sliced tomato are added, and a garnish of some extra whole prawns followed by another sprinkle of chunks of mozzarella and a little fresh grated parmesan.



5. And here’s how it looked straight out of the oven. The tangy garlic and prawns were wonderful together with the acidic sweetness of the tomatoes. A winning combo!

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

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

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

Rosemary, onion and blue cheese pizza