Everyone loves pizza but shop bought ones never quite seem to taste anywhere as near as good as those you can get in a restaurant or make at home. I do enjoy homemade pizza and so do my friends and family and they love to come over and try my various creations. My pizzas are great except for one thing, the base. It’s not a problem with my base mixture it’s more about the moisture of the items I add such as mozzarella that can give me, dare I say it, a ‘Soggy Bottom’. Soggy bottoms are not great and cooking for longer simply overcooks the outer part of the pizza so is not really the solution. But dear readers and friends who will be visiting me soon for pizza all is not lost!!!! I have finally found the answer, do I hear you all cheer yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!
The solution is simple and I’m kicking myself for not coming up with the idea myself and patenting it. When you see pizzas being made in a restaurant they are often put into a pizza oven on top of ceramic stone shelves. Pizzeria owners prefer this style of cooking as it gives an authentic pizza taste. Another important factor is using fresh products as this allows you to create the most amazing pizza’s but don’t forget that you should always use freshly ground spices for added flavour. Again, I have found an amazing product to enable you to do this. Forget those damn pestle and mortars that take forever, are exhausting to use and don’t get spices ground down as finely as you need them. Introducing the simplest and only spice grinder you will EVER need! ‘The Spice Boy‘.
I set off to experiment with both this and the ‘Eddington Pizza Stone’
With these great products I have created a mouth-watering recipe for you all to try. The results from the pizza stone were impressive. The pizza base was cooked throughout and crispy. The aroma and flavour were fantastic and it smelt like a pizza from a good pizza restaurant. It was simple to use and to clean although make sure that you read the instructions before use. The spice boy was brilliant, it’s easy to add the spices and you can adapt the mechanism to adjust how fine you want whatever spice you are grinding. Infact if you are making a curry or a dish with spices that need to be ground finely and need a set amount you can simply add these to an empty spice boy and grind.
I wanted to experiment with flavours and combined sweet with savoury. The crust is thin so it’s far better for you than the thick base pizzas and the mix of ingredients make it not only absolutely delicious (even if I do say so myself) but also rich in nutrients. Simple to make all you need is time to make the base and allow it to rise (prove).
Ingredients
For the dough:
250g Strong White Flour
6g Yeast
5g Freshly ground sea salt (use the Spice Boy!)
30ml Olive oil
180ml Water
1-2tsp Coarse semolina
The topping
1 White onion
Balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Rapeseed oil
Brown sugar
3-4 Figs cut in quarters
80g Parma ham
Olive oil to drizzle
Rocket
125g Mozzarella
Approx 50g Grana Padano (grate)
Freshly ground black pepper (use the Spice Boy!)
Method
Make the dough in advance.
Mix together the flour, yeast, salt, water and oil in a mixer and allow the dough hook to do all the hard work. Mix for approx. 5 minutes then with an oiled spatula scrap out the ball which will have formed into an oiled bowl (plastic). Cover and leave in a warm place for 3-4 hours. I sometime leave these for longer as I make the dough in the morning or daytime and will make the pizza when the little ones get back from school or even later when the husband gets back from work.
Just before you are ready to make the pizza set your oven to 220 (conventional oven) 210 (fan oven). Place the stone in the oven and allow to heat for about 30 – 40 minutes.
Prepare you toppings. Chop the onion in half and then slice. Heat up a saucepan and once it has reached a medium heat add the rapeseed oil and heat. Throw in the onion and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes then add the sugar and balsamic vinegar. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
When the stone has been heated and the toppings are ready take the stone out of the oven and sprinkle over some of the semolina. Place the dough onto a floured surface and flatten it out a little in the shape of a circle. This does not have t be particularly large as long as you have the beginnings of the circle it will be fine so about 7-8 inches in diameter then place the dough onto the pizza stone and gently but quickly push the dough out so that you have a large round that just covers the whole of the stone.
Sprinkle over more of the semolina and then place the figs evenly around the pizza. Rip the mozzarella into chunks and do the same with these. Sprinkle the balsamic onion and the grated Grana Padano over the pizza and then place the stone back in the oven for the pizza to cook.
Cook for approximately 16 minutes, the cooking time will vary depending on your oven and also how many moist ingredients like the mozzarella you use and their quantities. Once cooked remove from the oven and add the Parma ham by ripping this and arranging it around the pizza. Add the rocket and a drizzle of olive oil followed by a little freshly ground black pepper.
Place the stone on the serving rack that comes with the stone and serve.
Fresh homemade pizza that simply can’t be rivalled!
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It IS all about the base! That’s a fantastic stone – I love thin pizza bases too.
They are so much tastier and the stone seems to make the taste better as well as making sure the base cooks properly.
Thanks for the recipe will be trying it. Like the idea of a pizza stone. Must say I enjoy grinding my herbs and spices but for a faster way the spice boy looks good.
This is a great recipe, my hubby wasn’t convinced when I first told him about adding figs etc but once he tried it he was hooked!
i need to try this x
Looks yummy! I love a pizza lol – I love Frankie and Bennys BBQ pizza base and have managed to find a recipe for it that I need to try. Hope it is good! x
That sounds great Danilelle, I may have to get the recipe off you.
We’re a big fan of homemade thin pizzas, but I agree with you, it’s hard to get the bottom just right. This stone base looks fab. Shall have to look into it x
This sounds amazing, have never thought of putting figs on before but I want to try it now. I have wanted a pizza stone for such a long time am very jealous x
They are great and help get a nicely cooked base.
The pizza looks delicious! I’ve never made a pizza from scratch but I need to go ahead and try already.
If you follow my instructions you will be able to do it no problem. Have fun x
The toppings on this pizza are my total fave, I would love to have this for dinner! xxx
It is a great pizza and the combination of toppings work very well.
I love the topping combination! I bet it tasted amazing .
It was absolutely fabulous !!!!
I just got one of those pizza stones! I’ve only tried it once but it does seem to make a nice base 🙂
They do make a big difference don’t they 😉
This looks amazing, I’ve never tried to make a pizza at home but agree the shop bought ones don’t taste as nice as the ones in restaurants x
It is a shame but know you know how to make your own which is great x
I love the addition of Balsamic Vinegar and the fig x
They contrast in flavours is fantastic.
Pizza is probably my favourite. Not even that fussy. I know my favourite shop bought items and love going to authentic italian restaurants. This recipe sounds well worth a try! x
This post killed me, I’ve been craving pizza all day & this sounds delicious! xo
Yummy, what a delicious combination of flavours. Looks so tasty! 🙂
I love homemade pizza. My latest topic to go is a crispy bacon, pineapples and chilies with a pile of mozzarella 🙂
That sounds good although I might omit the pineapple. Its great to try different variations.
I had something similar to this in a restaurant the other day. The combination some how seems like it shouldn’t work but it really does!
It does seem unusual but totally works! 😉
I LOVE pizza! And it is definitely all about the bass for me!
That sounds absolutely yummy – I wish I could eat cheese still…I can eat goats cheese – that might work???
That would work too, yum!
I love the sound of this homemade pizza recipe. It looks so delicious.
All my favourite toppings on one pizza! Sounds divine! We are intrigued with adding fig!
It works really well and adds a gorgeous sweetness.
This sounds amazing! I love making my own pizzas.
Me too, you can combine so many different toppings and crate some great pizzas.
Omg that sounds amazing! I’d have to swerve the ham but I bet it’s just as good without.