more pizza

my bread-making efforts have been put on hold recently – i’m still keen to perfect sour dough but have lost faith in the river cottage method so need to check out alternatives. i think dan lepard will be my starting point having had success with his potato bread.

so, to keep my hand in with all things yeasty i decided to try a different pizza base recipe. my usual pizza dough needs to be started the day before which is a level of menu-planning that i don’t always have. the river cottage recipe comes together over a few hours and the result was very good. as ever i think this is at least partly due to my use of a pizza stone so the dough cooks quickly and evenly – if you haven’t tried one yet, and enjoy pizza, you really should track one down so you can see what a difference it makes.

toppings on this were wilted spinach, salami and jalapenos plus the standard tomato base and mozzarella cheese.

river cottage pizza dough (makes at least 8 small pizzas, 4 large)

250g strong white bread flour

250g plain white flour

5g powdered yeast

10g salt

325ml warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

a handful of coarse flour (rye, semolina or polenta) for dusting

mix the flours, yeast, salt and water in a bowl to form a sticky dough. add the oil, mix it in then turn the dough out onto a clean surface. knead until smooth and silky. shape the dough into a round then leave to rise in a clean bowl, covered with a plastic bag, until doubled in size.

use pieces of the risen dough to make your bases.