Pizza

I had a big jar full of strong white flour to use up and found some recently expired yeast in the cupboard too. I also had some passata I’d bought for something else but didn’t need.

Whizzed up a pizza sauce, made some dough and presto:

00 flour is best if you have it, but I had the strong flour to use up. I used 300 g of flour, and about 200 ml warm water, a teaspoon of yeast, a big pinch of salt and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. I also added a bit of barley malt that I found in the back of another cupboard. I mixed it all together then put it in the fridge for a very long rise of over a day (I was being organised). It makes a nice soft dough that requires careful handling.

I made three pizzas out of this dough – it’s best if you make three individual balls and let them rest for a bit – this forms a “skin” on the dough that helps you handle it. Then I just hand stretch the dough into a rough circle, as thin as I can get it. I don’t like to use a rolling pin as the dough can stick and make a mess. The oven should be as hot as you can get it.

I’m too lazy to bother with pizza peels and baking stones, so I put my dough circles onto a baking tray scattered with semolina.

I used my favourite Puttanesca toppings (anchovies, olives, capers) from Franco Manca, the presence of which five minutes down the road goes a long way to explaining why I don’t make pizza very often.

This was a pretty good home-made alternative though! I’m still not out of flour, so this didn’t actually use up anything on the list.

However, I’ve used up everything I wanted to use, so I think I’ve come a long way, baby. It’s time to draw a line under this project and start on the next one – stay tuned.