Alpine pizza
Nothing beats making your own pizza dough. Here it’s topped with gruyère and salami
for a delicious Alpine taste.
Ingredients
For the dough
500g/1lb 2oz strong plain flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tsp salt
1 x 7g sachet of dried yeast
320ml/11fl oz lukewarm water
dried breadcrumbs or semolina, for dusting
For the topping
80g/3oz gruyère cheese, grated
250g/9oz crème fraîche
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
140g/5oz salami, cut into strips
marjoram leaves, to finish
Preparation method
For the pizza dough, combine the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Gradually
add the water, mixing well with your hands to obtain a dough. If you find the dough
too sticky, simply add a little more flour. Shape into a ball, cover with a cloth
and leave to rest for five minutes.
Knead the dough for about 10 minutes and split it in half. Sprinkle some flour
on a clean kitchen cloth and place the pieces of dough on it. Cover with a slightly
damp cloth and leave to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place.
Preheat the oven to 240C/475F/Gas 9.
Meanwhile, for the topping, combine the gruyère and crème fraîche in a bowl,
adding some salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Once the dough has risen, sprinkle some flour on a clean work surface and spread
one dough ball into a circle about 30cm/12in in diameter, making it as thin as possible
(without tearing it), with the border slightly thicker. Repeat with the other dough
ball. Sprinkle two flat baking trays with breadcrumbs or semolina and place the pizza
bases on them.
Spread the crème fraîche mixture over each base. Top with the onions and salami.
Bake in the hot oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the marjoram
and serve.
Pizza dough base
Make your own pizza with this authentic Italian recipe - it uses '00' flour to give
the base a lighter, crisper texture.
Ingredients
For the dough
650g/1lb 5oz Italian 00 flour (strong white flour)
7g sachet of easy-blend yeast
2 tsp salt
25ml/1fl oz olive oil
50ml/2fl oz warm milk
325ml/11fl oz warm water
Preparation method
Make the dough: mix the flour, yeast and salt together in a large mixing bowl and
stir in the olive oil and milk. Gradually add the water, mixing well to form a soft
dough.
Turn the dough out on to a floured work surface and knead for about five minutes,
until smooth and elastic. Transfer to a clean bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and
leave to rise for about 1½ hours, until doubled in size.
Technique: Kneading bread
Kneading breadWatch technique2:35 mins
When the dough has risen, knock it back, then knead again until smooth, roll
into a ball and set aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour until risen again.
Technique: Knocking back
Knocking backWatch technique0:43 mins
Preheat the oven to its highest setting.
Divide the dough into six balls and roll each out onto a lightly floured work
surface until 20cm/8in in diameter.
Spread a little passata (or homemade tomato sauce) over each pizza base and top
with your favourite toppings.
Bake the pizzas in the oven until the bases are crisp and golden-brown around
the edges and any cheese on the topping has melted.
Dumplings Special
For the dumplings:
175g self-raising flour
2 sprigs thyme, leaves only
10g chives
10g curly parsley leaves
2
tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
90g shredded suet
50ml whole
milk
Method
To make the dumplings, mix the flour, thyme leaves, freshly chopped chives and parsley,
mustard, salt and lemon zest in a stand-up mixer using the dough hook until it forms
a fine crumb. Add suet and milk and mix until the dough just comes together. Allow
to stand, covered, for 30 minutes. Roll into 24 even-sized balls..
Heat the butter in a pan until sizzling then cook the dumplings for 2–3 minutes
until golden. Lay them on top of the casserole, pressing down gently. Bake for 25–30
minutes until the dumplings are cooked and the casserole is heated through. Finish
with thyme leaves and freshly chopped parsley and chives.
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