I’m sorry, New Zealand. Fish and chips, you’re best in the world. Hands down. Pizza, not so much.
A few times we ordered pizza from one of the chains, and we thought, “This isn’t too bad.” But our subsequent orders left us feeling disappointed.
Too many toppings. Bad sauces. Lackluster crusts.
Then the child was born. His food allergies turned delivered pizza into a naughty after-bedtime treat. And we were usually let down.
And let's face it, in these recessionary times, it’s expensive.
So I’ve taken matters into my own hands. Literally.
I make my own pizza base from this easy recipe:
Stacey’s quick pizza base
Put into bowl:
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 tbsp sugar
Mix to dissolve.
Sprinkle over 1 tbsp instant yeast and stir in 1 tbsp olive oil. Leave for at least 5 minutes to froth.
Mix 3 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder.
Add flour as needed if sticky knead. Knead for a couple minutes. I do it by hand.
Then I rest the dough as long as possible, covered in a warm place.
I roll the dough out with a rolling pin. I make two pizza crusts with this recipe.
Last night with some help from the child, I made dairy-free Seafood Pizza:
2 tbsp tomato paste mixed with 2 tbsp water
1 tbsp each of crushed garlic, chilli sauce and dried oregano
1 large prepared pizza base
About 300g seafood. I splurged and used crab meat.
1 cup grated cheddar cheese. I used soya cheese.
Optional: ½ cup chopped green olives
Mix tomato paste and garlic, chilli sauce and oregano. Spread this tomato paste mixture over pizza base. Arrange seafood on top, then cheese, and olives if using. Bake at 200°C for 12 minutes.
Seafood Pizza. We were not disappointed.
