Bellissima

I hesitate to write this post, about the most-cooked dish in my kitchen - pizza.  Why do I hesitate?  Well, shortly I'm off to Italy for a few weeks.  Whilst there I'm spending a week at an Italian cooking school south of Rome, learning how to make pizza, pasta and other amazing Italian food properly.  I'm thinking it's probably good to document my pizza-making tips and recipe now, then see what changes in 8 weeks time!

Making your own pizza base is not difficult.  The only thing it requires is time - at least an hour.  If you don't have an hour then don't bother, just have something else for dinner and try again tomorrow. You don't have to work on it for an hour, you have to leave it alone for an hour, so the yeast can work it's magic. Whilst it is doing it's thing, why not have a glass of wine and decide what your toppings will be!  Let your creativity shine through in your toppings and whatever you dream up to add to your base.  Make it pretty or just make it tasty.  Once you've made your own dough, you'll never use store-bought bases again.

Pizza Dough
300g (2 cups) Bread/Pizza Flour (I use this one)
7g sachet dry active yeast
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
200mL warm water (not hot)
extra flour

1. Sift flour into a large bowl.
2. Stir in yeast, sugar and salt.
3. Make a well in the centre, add warm water and oil.  
4. Bring together using a wooden spoon or your hands.  Turn onto a floured surface.
5. Knead for 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth.  Add flour as necessary.
6. Wash out and dry your original bowl, then lightly oil it.  
7. Place the ball of dough into the oiled bowl and cover with glad wrap or a tea towel, and set aside in a warm place to prove for 1 hour (or until doubled in size).
8. On a floured surface, knock back the dough and knead again until smooth.
9. Divide the dough into two and roll out to form two thin bases.
10. Add sauce, cheese and toppings.  Bake at 240C for 8 - 10 minutes.

Activate yeast; mix dough; let it prove.

Other ideas:

• Make sure you have some flour on your hands before working the dough.
• If it's a cool day, then mix the warm water with the yeast before adding to dry ingredients.
• Some say you can use normal plain flour instead of bread/pizza flour.
• Dough can be wrapped in gladwrap, then a snaplock bag and frozen for another time. Just thaw it in the fridge, then allow it to come to room temperature before kneading and rolling out.
• Add fresh or dried herbs, such as oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary etc, to the dry ingredients.
• Add a few tablespoons of dried turmeric and finely diced red chilli (or chilli flakes) to the dry ingredients. The pic on the bottom left is an 'indian dough', which I topped with tandoori chicken, coriander and some mango chutney to finish
• Try not to have more than 3 - 4 other toppings, as well as cheese and sauce.

 

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One a penny, two a penny

Today is Good Friday - a day of fasting and remembrance.  It's the most solemn day on the Christian calendar.  And it's the day that we love to eat Hot Cross Buns.  As you know, they've pretty much been in the shops now since Christmas, which is very strange indeed.  And oh my, the array of flavours they come in: no fruit, no peel, chocolate, sticky date and caramel (thanks Woolies)!

C'mon now, the hot cross bun is meant to be a sweet spicy fruit bun with sultanas or currants, with a cross on the top, traditionally eaten on Good Friday.  In my opinion there should be no chocolate or other flavours, and nobody should waste their time on those - remember, Good Friday is a day of fasting!  Hot cross buns should be eaten hot, smothered in butter and possibly some red jam (strawberry, raspberry, whatever you've got) and that is it.  The over-commercialisation of our world is astounding.  If you want to mess with them, then don't put a cross on top and just call them whatever flavour they are.  Ok, that feels better, end of rant!

Last year I made my own hot cross buns for the first time.  They were not as soft as I'd hoped, so I've given them another go, with a different recipe this time.  When I make them again next year I will reuse this recipe, as they were lovely and soft this time. I have increased the amounts fruit and mixed spice from the original.  Feel free to adjust those as you see fit, and I won't even mind if you don't put the orange peel in.  Many recipes for hot cross buns have you mixing the yeast with the warm milk and butter initially, then letting that foam, then add that to the dry ingredients.  This one is a bit more of a 'throw it all in' recipe.  Enjoy!

Hot Cross Buns (makes 12 large buns)
4 cups plain flour, sifted (yes, even I sifted it)
2 x 7g yeast sachets
1/4 cup sugar
2 - 3 generous tablespoons mixed spice (or use a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg etc)
pinch of salt
2 - 3 cups sultanas, currants, mixed peel (or use a box of mixed fruit - cherries optional!)
40g butter, melted
300mL milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Flour paste: 1/2 cup plain flour, 5 - 6  tablespoons water

Dough proving

Glaze: 1/3 cup water, 2 tablespoons caster sugar

1. Mix all dry ingredients together - flour, yeast, sugar, mixed spice, salt, fruit.
2. Melt butter, add milk and warm for about a minute, until it is lukewarm (should feel neither cold nor hot when you put your finger in it).
3. Add lightly beaten eggs, and milk mixture to dry ingredients.  Combine well in bowl.
4. Tip out onto a floured bench and knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth.
5. Place ball of dough in a lightly oiled bowl.  Cover and allow to stand in a warm place, until it is doubled in size (about an hour depending on the temperature of the day).
6. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
7. Punch back dough to original size.  Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead to smooth.  Divide into 12 even pieces (about 100g each), shape into balls and place on lined tray about 1cm apart.  Cover and allow to stand for about 30 minutes, or until balls are doubled in size.
8. Meanwhile preheat oven to 190C.  Make flour paste by combining ingredients.  Put this in a snaplock bag and snip the corner.  Pipe crosses across the buns.
9. Bake for 20 - 25 mins, until cooked and golden.



Buns proving

10. Whilst they are cooking, make the glaze: In a small saucepan, mix the water and sugar, until sugar is dissolved.  Bring to boil and allow to boil about 5 minutes.  Brush over warm hot cross buns.

Variations:
Glaze - warm some jam or golden syrup and brush over the top
Substitute brown sugar for caster sugar, for a richer bun
Add dried yeast to melted butter and warm milk and allow to froth/foam - may reduce proving time.
Make twice as many, by making them smaller - about 50g each