Friday, June 13, 2014

Spelt Pizza Base



I really should be studying right now for my last exam for the semester.... but I'm looking for every excuse under the sun not to!  I made this pizza for dinner tonight and as it turned out, my sister and super fussy 3yo nephew dropped by.  My nephew had 3 slices of pizza - you know a food is good when he eats it!  This recipe makes 2 large pizzas.  If you don't want to make 2 pizzas at once - you can freeze half the dough once the proving has finished, roll it into a ball and wrap in cling wrap, then pop into the freezer.  When you're ready to use the dough, you just take it out of the freezer and allow to thaw out on a baking paper lined pizza tray until it's soft enough to flatten and roll out.

Ingredients:
Base:
- 1 cup of water
- 1 sachet (7g) dried yeast
- 4 cups unbleached spelt flour
- 1 tbsp macadamia oil + 1 tbsp extra
- Pinch of sea salt

Toppings:
Whatever you want - but this is what I used tonight:
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 100g nitrate-free ham, chopped
- 2 cups cheese (please grate it yourself to avoid anti caking agents often added to pre-shredded cheeses) - I used mozzarella and parmesan (grated in my Thermie for 10 seconds on speed 9)

Method:
1.  Heat water until lukewarm and stir the yeast in.  Cover and allow to sit for 10 minutes or until yeast is frothy and activated.

(Thermomix - add water and yeast to TM bowl and warm for 2min/37deg/sp1.  Allow to activate for 10 minutes or so)

2.  Tip the yeast mixture into a large bowl.  Add the flour, 1 tbsp of oil and a pinch of salt and combine with your hands.  Tip the dough mixture out onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Using the remaining 1tbsp of macadamia oil, grease a large bowl and put your dough in.  Cover and allow to prove on the bench for around 1 hour or until doubled in size.

(Thermomix - add flour, 1tbsp oil and pinch of salt.  Mix 5sec/sp6.  Knead for 30 seconds using the knead function.  Transfer the dough into a bowl greased with remaining macadamia oil, cover and allow to prove on the bench for around 1 hour or until doubled in size)

3.  After the dough has doubled in size, I then put the bowl of dough in the fridge for another 2 hours.  It continues to grow but much more slowly.

4.  Preheat oven to 220 degrees and line 2 pizza trays with baking paper.  Divide the dough in half and roll out onto each tray.  Top with whichever toppings you like and bake for around 15 minutes, until the dough is cooked through.   



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