Party pizza recipe

This party pizza recipe takes a little bit of advanced planning because the dough needs an hour to rise, but the results are well worth it! You can top your pizza with whatever you wish – the possibilities are endless – but we have offered a few suggestions.

Serves 4-6 (recipe makes four 30cm pizzas).

The dough

Ingredients

450g strong plain flour

1tsp salt

2 sachets of fast-acting yeast

2 tbsp olive oil, plus a bit extra for oiling the baking sheet

300ml warm water

Method 

Sift the flour and salt into one of the large mixing bowls, and make a hole in the centre. Pour the yeast, oil and warm water into the centre of the hole. Gradually mix in the flour to make a soft dough.

Turn out the dough on to a lightly floured surface and knead well until it is smooth, pliable and elastic. This will only take a few minutes. (Remember to remove any rings before kneading the dough.) Place the ball of dough into the other large bowl, cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place for 1 hour, until well-risen and doubled in size. This is a good time to make your tomato base and prepare any toppings.

The topping

Ingredients

For the tomato sauce:

½tbsp of vegetable or olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1tsp of balsamic vinegar

A good pinch of mixed herbs

Topping suggestions:

Peppers (red, green or yellow), diced

Mushrooms, sliced

Tinned sweetcorn, drained

Spinach and/or basil, coarsely chopped

Tomatoes, sliced

Black olives, sliced

Feta cheese, crumbled

Vegetarian or vegan sausage*, cooked and sliced

225g vegetarian or vegan cheese, grated. One 225g packet of cheese is enough for two

30cm pizzas.

Method

Heat the oil in the frying pan over medium heat, and gently fry the onion for 5 minutes. Add the chopped tinned tomatoes, vinegar, and herbs and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Purée the sauce in a blender or with a hand blender. Set to one side.

After the dough has had an hour to rise, turn the oven on to 220°C/425°F/Gas mark 7. Turn out the dough on to a lightly floured surface, punch it down and divide into four pieces.

Knead each piece lightly and roll out until it is about 30cm in diameter. Oil the metal baking sheet and place one of the rounds of dough on it. Top the dough with the tomato sauce and any other toppings of your choice. 

Bake in the preheated oven until the base of the pizza is crisp and golden brown, around 10 minutes. Remove to a large chopping board and cut into slices using a pizza cutter or sharp knife.

Repeat with the other rounds of dough.

 

Variations:

White pizza: Instead of the tomato base, spread olive oil on the dough, sprinkle with finely sliced garlic and top with grated mozzarella. Green pizza: Spread some vegetarian green pesto on the base and sprinkle with toppings of your choice.

 

Recipe courtesy of The Vegetarian Society 2009 (taken from the booklet Veggie Kids’ Kitchen, available for free from the Vegetarian Society) www.vegsoc.org