Another wet day here in Wiltshire and the school run was a total wash out. My two boys and I looked like we'd been for a swim in our clothes, riding bikes in the rain isn't it's all cracked up to be. After getting home, changed and putting the heating on I decided it was time the boys learnt a bit about cooking and after talking it through with our eldest (5 and three quarters) Pizza was on tonight's menu. Total carnage was what I was expecting and got!
Here's the recipe for the pizza base (made by James and Ollie):
Ingredients
(Makes 3-4 pizza bases)
500g strong white bread flour
1/2 tsp fine salt
7g sachet of dried yeast
1/2 tsp caster sugar
325ml (about 1/2 a pint) lukewarm water
Extra flour for dusting
For the child friendly version I first got all the ingredients ready in separate bowls and made sure we had a large work surface (we used the dinning room table). Most recipes say to put all the flour onto a surface, make a well in the middle then add the water, not such a good idea with little chefs so we opted for a large mixing bowl to try and contain as much mess as possible, it kinda worked.
First mix the sugar, yeast and water together. Mix well and leave for 5 minutes. Then put the flour into the bowl with the salt.
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| James mixing the yeast, Ollie taking care of the flour. |
So far no mess! Next make a well in the middle of the flour and slowly pour in the water mixture stirring as you do.
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| Boys concentrating! |
Mix the mixture with a fork or wooden spoon, it should start to look like stodgy porridge. When it gets to hard to stir with a fork it's time to use your hands. Flour the work surface with quite a bit of flour and empty the mixture onto it. Start stretching the flour with the bottom of your hands and do this for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and springy. However if your'e working with 2 little chefs let them punch it as hard as they can!
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| James showing the dough who's boss, Ollie shouting because he can. |
Now you should be getting a mess that can only be described as a flour explosion! Put the dough back into the mixing bowl, dust with flour, cover clingfilm and leave for around 20 minutes. In the mean time, time to thank the boys for their hard work, put on Power Rangers (I really don't see the appeal) and clear up the mess.
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| What mess? |
After the dough has had 20 minutes to do it's thing (double in size) it's time to roll out the bases. Flour your work surface and separate the dough mixture into 3 balls. Roll out into a rough circle finishing with the dough nice and thin. Heat the oven to 230C, now its time to apply your toppings. The tomato sauce is relatively easy - fry 1/2 an onion with a diced garlic glove, add chopped tomatoes and oregano and simmer for 10 minutes. Put the rolled out base onto a floured baking tray and add your ingredients, try not to over load your pizza! The boys had cheese and tomato and my wife and I had chorizo, Parma ham, asparagus, mushroom and mozzarella, and very nice it was too. Have fun!
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| Chorizo, Parma ham, asparagus, mushroom and mozzarella pizza |
