In my intro I promised Mediterranean recipes so I am starting with the all time favourite. Pizza! We made this over the weekend with the kids, as it is super easy and just delicious! It is not the traditional pizza dough recipe (I can add another post on this, if any of you are interested just ask) but it takes literally 10 minutes to preapre so that, for me, is a huge bonus!
First of all thought some pizza facts... because I love facts!
Where does pizza come from? Italy of course! Everyone knows that! But not everyone knows the how this came to be. Historians generally agree that flatbread with toppings baked onto the bread comes from the ancient Greeks and the Etruscans. This food was known in the Roman city of Naples, as it had been under both Etruscan and Greek rule, so in the 16th century when it became overpopulated with poor, hungry people that needed cheap and filling food this flat bread provided a good solution. With both sweet and savoury toppings, pizza, was sold on the street and purchased by size, depending on how much could be afforded. So a whole pizza was rarely, if ever, purchased! The period coincided with the arrival of tomatoes from South America. As expected when they were added onto the flatbread it proved to be a successful combination. The association of pizza with poverty however, meant that pizza was not a popular food in the rest of Italy. It therefore remained particular to Naples until after World War II when many Italians from Naples emigrated to America. Some started making and selling pizza to make a living pizza and it wasn't long before it became a popular food. Americans of course associated it with all Italians, not only those from Naples. The more popular pizza became in America the more respected it became in Italy. To preserve the authentic Neapolitan pizza and differentiate it from American pizza, the Italians developed the pizza recipes that we know today.
So here is a version of unknown origin: The ten minute pizza dough recipe!
INGREDIENTS
(Makes a 25cm x40cm pizza that you can cut into roughly 8 pieces as shown below)
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup self-raising flour
a pinch of salt
METHOD
Put the flour with the salt and yogurt into a large mixing bowl and mix it with a spoon (not your hands) until it is all combined. It is very sticky and quite a different consistency to traditional pizza dough but don't let that put you off. Spread the dough out onto a sheet of baking paper using a rolling pin. Adding extra flour every time you roll out the dough as necessary. Add tomato sauce and toppings as you prefer. If you don't have a recipe for the tomato sauce, scroll down. I have also made a list of ingredients for some of the classic pizzas we all love!
TOMATO SAUCE FOR PIZZA
INGREDIENTS
(Makes 400ml)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of crushed garlic
½ teaspoon dried oregano
500g tomato puree
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper
METHOD
Place all the ingredients into a pot. Using medium heat bring to the boil. Once it starts boiling turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir gently to allow the sauce slightly reduce.
PIZZA NAMES AND TOPPINGS
Start with a base of the following for each pizza:
200ml tomato sauce
150g mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
MARGUERITE
Basil, leaves freshly picked
CONTADINA
4 spears of asparagus
3 finely sliced mushrooms
2 rashers of bacon
Shavings of parmesan
QUATTRO STAGIONI
Divide the area of the pizza in quarters
Fill 1/4 with 1 finely sliced mushroom
Fill 1/4 with 1 torn slice of ham
Fill 1/4 with sliced artichokes
Fill 1/4 with 6 black olives
Add a sprinkle of oregano
AMERICANA
Cover with thinly sliced peperoni sausage
HAWAIIAN
3 slices of ham torn
1 pineapple slice cut into chunks
Enjoy and share!