There's a Hive Top Chef Pizza competition, so how can I not take part?
Unfortunately I got to know about it just about when we ate the last slice of the pizza we cooked last night, and it'll be a week or more before we have the same dish again so... the only current picture is of my husband's lunch box. Bite-size pieces. The rest are older.
Dough
25g yeast
150 ml water, slightly warmer than room temp. About 20°C.
30 ml rapeseed oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black pepper
Crumble the yeast into a large bowl, add the water and spices. Stir gently and let sit for 15 minutes.
700 ml wheat flour
1 tsp tsp salt
150 ml water
Mix the salt into the flour, then add the flour into the yeast mixture while stirring, and add the remaining water spoon by spoon if the dough gets too dry. Knead until smooth, then put the dough into a covered bowl and set aside for at least 45 minutes to rise.
While waiting, make the sauce
250g ripe tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, minced
chili flakes/powder - as much as you like
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp sumac
1/3 tsp ground cumin
Roast or fry the tomatoes until the skins begin to brown, then put them in a blender with the rest of the ingredients to make a sauce.
Toppings
There's still time before the dough is ready, so use it to prepare the toppings. Anything you have in your fridge is good. Thinly sliced carrots and leek? Maybe some leftover porkchops with mushrooms? Diced salami and bell pepper? Napa cabbage and slices of brie? Perhaps a dollop spoonful of bolognese with spiralized aubergine? Or like we do it here since the dough is enough for four whole baking sheets, if rolled out thin enough - four different kinds of pizza in one go!
Now grate your cheese. It's hard to describe the results, so try it yourself and decide what you like. Grate the cheese finely or coarsely. Experiment! It will make a difference. I prefer coarsely grated cheese in the bottom layer, and finely grated at the top. YMMV
Where were we before I got immersed in toppings? Oh, yes, the dough should have risen now! Pour it out in a big lump, punch it down. Yes, punch it, from above. That'll let som air out. Now divide it into 4 parts, and knead those again. Tedious, but it does make your pizza so much better. Set those four parts aside again, covered, and let rise for at least half an hour more.
Take one of them and roll into a ball, flatten with your hands... and finally you can use the rolling pin to shape it into a circle or rectangle or star... whatever shape you want your pizza to be. As thin as possible - it'll rise again in the oven.
Once that's done, transfer it to a greased baking sheet, smear with your sauce, sprinkle a little cheese, add your toppings, then more cheese. And bake. Sprinkle some herb or greens on top before serving - oregano, thyme, leek, chives or basil... whatever suits.
Repeat with the other three balls.
