Category Archives: Pizza

Blue Cheese, caramelised pear & crispy prosciutto pizza

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feat. Cow’s Creamery “Blue Moo” cheese

Makes enough dough for 2x 12inch pizzas; toppings for 1x 12inch pizza

Ingredients

Pizza Dough (makes enough for 2x 12 inch pizzas)

  • 1 1/3 cups) warm water
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 3 ½  cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 2 Tablespoons cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Topping (for 1, 12 inch pizza)

  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 4 oz thinly sliced prosciutto,
  • 5oz Cows Creamery “Blue Moo”, soft blue cheese
  • 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 large Bosc pears, cored and sliced, ½ inch thick
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • ¼ cup chopped walnut pieces
  • ½ cup fresh arugula

Method

Pizza Dough

  1. Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer.
  2. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes
  3. Add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes
  4. Beat the for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready
  5. Lightly grease a large bowl with oil. Place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with oiled cling wrap. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size
  6. Preheat a pizza stone in a 500°F oven for 20-25 minutes

To prepare the toppings

  1. Finely chop garlic and heat in the olive oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to allow the garlic to burn. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool
  2. Simmer the balsamic vinegar to reduce the volume by about half. It should thicken slightly. Set aside until needed
  3. In a large skillet, melt the butter and brown sugar together over medium heat. Add the pears in a single layer and cook for about 10 minutes turning once, to caramelize the pears. Remove the skillet from the heat and set aside until needed

To finish and bake the pizza

  1. When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half. (If not making 2 pizzas, freeze half of the dough for another time. Stretch the dough into about a 12-13inch round
  2. Place the dough round on a wooden peel that has been well sprinkled with cornmeal. Make sure your pizza is sliding on the cornmeal base before adding your toppings
  3. Brush the garlic olive oil from earlier all over the center of the dough
  4. Add the Cows Creamery blue cheese in about 1 teaspoon sized pieces along with arranging  the pears and prosciutto. (Keep the ingredients in a single layer as this helps the pizza crust stay crisp and cook quickly) Sprinkle over the walnut pieces
  5. Shake your peel to make sure the pizza is not stuck. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone
  6. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until the bottom is evenly brown and the top cheese begins to brown slightly. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Slide off you pizza stone to serving board
  7. Sprinkle over the fresh arugula and drizzle with the balsamic reduction
  8. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Pull-apart BBQ Pork Pizza Rolls

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(with Tabasco® Sweet & Spicy spiked sauce)

Makes 20-24 rolls

Ingredients

Sauce

  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup brewed coffee
  • 1 Tablespoon Tabacso ® Sweet and Spicy Sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
  • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 2oz dark chocolate, 70% cocoa, chopped

Pulled Pork

  • 1 lb pork shoulder , or butt
  • 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 12 ounces cola (not diet)

Pizza Dough

  • 2 ¼ teaspoons Active dry yeast
  • 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 3 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
  • 2 ¾ cups bread flour
  • 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Garlic Butter

  • 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
  • ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder

Method

Sauce

  1. Place all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium heat
  2. Reduce the heat to medium low so that the sauce is simmering. Cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened
  3. Remove from heat and toss to coat your prepared pork. The quantity here make about 2 cups of sauce so there’s plenty for coating and surplus for dipping. Any remaining sauce can be left to cool and transferred to a glass container or squeeze bottle for use later

Pulled Pork

  1. Trim pork of excess fat and cut into 4 pieces
  2. Combine spices in a small bowl and rub all over the pork. Leave for between 4hours to overnight
  3. Preheat your oven to 300 F. Place the pork piece in your Dutch oven and pour coke around the pork. Cover pot with lid and cook for 2 hours. Remove lid and cook for an additional 30-40 minutes, until pork is tender and easily pulls apart with a fork.
  4. Remove from oven and shred meat. Toss 1 cup pulled pork with 1 cup prepared Tabasco® Sweet & Spicy BBQ sauce and allow to cool before combining with 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese. Set aside for filling later

Pizza Dough

  1. Place the yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Heat the milk on the stove or in the microwave until warm to touch. Pour warm milk on top of yeast and sugar. Whisk gently to combine, then loosely cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to sit for 5—10 minutes. The mixture will be frothy after this time
  2. Add the melted butter, egg, salt, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning and about 1 cup of the bread flour. Beat on low speed for 1 minute to combine ingredients, then add the remaining flour and beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Dough will be soft. If it feels too sticky, add another Tablespoon of flour. Transfer it to a lightly floured work surface. Using lightly floured hands, knead it for 3 minutes. Shape into a ball
  3. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Place in a slightly warm place to rise until doubled in size, around 60—90 minutes
  4. When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. Pinch off a piece of dough about 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons in size. With your hands, form into a ball, flatten and make an indent in the centre. Place a tablespoon of BBQ pork and cheese mixture into the indent. Press the dough around it to seal the filling inside, and place the stuffed dough ball into the prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough and filling until you’ve filled the pan (you should have about 20–24 balls)
  5. Cover the pan with plastic wrap or aluminium foil and allow to rise once again in a slightly warm environment until puffy, about 30–45 minutes
  6. Preheat your oven to 350°F
  7. Bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the rolls from the oven and sprinkle on ½ cup mozzarella cheese. Loosely tent with foil, then return to oven and bake for another 12–15 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes as you prepare the garlic butter topping

Garlic Butter

  1. Melt butter and stir in the garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Brush on warm rolls before serving and drizzle with some additional warm BBQ sauce

To serve

  1. Serve warm from the oven, brushed with the garlic butter, with extra BBQ Sauce and Tabasco® Sriracha Sauce for dipping

Fluffiest Pizza Rolls

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Who doesn’t love pizza? Yes- that age old question. From my experience a pretty good fan base is kids. I know my two are 100% on board with this, and with these rolls even more so. I think part of the enjoyment for them is knowing that they’ll get to sample the fruits of their labor at the end. Over the years I’ve learned that letting kids take ownership of tasks (no matter how small) can yield bountiful positive results and enjoyment all round. But…I’m here to talk pizza (rolls)!

These pizza rolls are perfect on so many fronts – pizza is popular; you can rope the kids in to helping; guests can eat as much as they like; they’re easily transportable outdoor eating in the summer weather. Like I said- the perfect tear and share popular summer bite. For a snack or appetizer I use one, for a main I use two paired with a leafy, summer salad. Let’s not forget it customizable too. If pepperoni isn’t your thing, swap it in for chicken, or ham.

You’ll notice a couple of things with this recipe. The dough can appear wetter than usual when fully mixed, This is what makes the end baked roll so fluffy. It really is a case of “wetter is better”. You also see that I mention cornmeal in the recipe. Whilst this isn’t an ingredient in the rolls as such, dipping their bases in it and baking them results in a wonderfully toasted, crispy bottom with a delightful crunch.

One last piece of advice before I go. These pizza rolls are at their best fresh out of the oven however if there are any left they can be wrapped, stored in the fridge and reheated for enjoying later.

Makes 12

Ingredients

Pizza Sauce

  • 6oz can tomato puree
  • 1 can (15oz) tomato sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
  • 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sugar

Pizza Rolls

  • 4 cups bread flour
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons quick yeast
  • 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1/4 cup oil

Filling/ Topping

  • 2 cups pizza sauce, recipe above
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
  • 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 cup shredded parmesan
  • 1 cup pepperoni, diced/ shredded
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal
  • Olive oil

Method

Pizza Sauce

  1. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, stir well, cover and set aside on the counter until needed

Pizza Rolls

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with dough hook attachment, combine the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and Italian seasoning
  2. Add the egg and combine on low speed
  3. Add in 3/4 of the liquid and mix on speed 2 to to combine. The dough should come together and start “cleaning the sides of the bowl”. If you dough is still “shaggy” gradually add in some of the remaining liquid until it comes together
  4. Knead on this speed for 7 minutes, until it is uniform and spring to the touch. It will be a bit sticky!
  5. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size (mine usually takes between 50mins to 1 hour)
  6. Line a 9″ x 12″ baking tray with baking parchment, leaving about a 2″ overhang all the way around. This will help fish the baked pizza rolls out of the tin
  7. In medium bowl, combine the mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan and Italian seasoning. Set aside
  8. Spread the cornmeal onto a plate and set aside
  9. Once doubled in size, tip out onto a well-floured counter and knock back the air from the risen dough
  10. Form into a rough rectangular shape 20″ x 12″ with long edge facing you
  11. Spread the surface of the dough with 2 cups of the pizza sauce. Next sprinkle over 2/3 of the cheese mixture, followed by 1/2 of the pepperoni
  12. Taking the long edge, roll the dressed dough up into a long log shape. It’ll get messy- there’s no getting away from it but doing it slow and easy helps keep most of the filling inside
  13. Cut the rolled up log into 12 pieces* and dip the bottom of each piece into the cornmeal. Place the rolls into the prepared baking tray, cornmeal side down in 3 x 4 formation allowing a small gap between each
  14. Preheat your oven to 350F
  15. Cover with some oiled cling wrap and set aside to rise for approximately 35 to 40 minutes. By the end of this time you’ll notice they will have risen again and be quite snug in the baking tray
  16. Brush with some olive oil and bake in your preheated oven for 15 minutes, at which point remove from the oven, sprinkle over the remaining cheese mixture, followed by the remaining pepperoni, return to the oven and continue baking for a further 15 to 20 minutes until the crust is golden, the cheese has melted and the pepperoni is nicely crisped up
  17. Remove from the oven and leave in the pan for 5 minutes. After this time remove from the pan using the baking parchment overhang, serve and enjoy with the remaining pizza sauce for dipping

*A handy trick for cutting your individual rolls is to use some dental floss (unflavored and clean) or some fishing line (again clean!). Cut a length, wrap it it around the long dough log at where you want to cut and pull together. Slices will be clean and you don’t run the risk of squashing them. Repeat to cut more.