The other day I indulged in some olives (#pushingtheboatout) at my local Mecca (a.k.a. Tesco) and it reminded me that pizza has unfortunately been lacking in my diet this semester. Ok, I admit it, I went to Pizza Express last week. But before that, I was seriously lacking in Pizza. I promise. Normally when I create homemade pizza I make my own dough, with the end result usually ending up tasting of bread and tomatoes. This occasion, however, we cheated. The discovery of readymade pizza dough mix is a revelation; especially at only 80 pence in Sainsbury’s! Bea went for a beautifully symmetrical red pepper and tuna mix, while my messy concoction contained a plethora of my favourite veggies: aubergine, courgette, sun dried tomatoes and olives. The result was delicious, and, best of all, actually tasted like pizza. An easy, breezy supper that can be tailored to your specifications/fussiness. Nom Nom Nom.
Ingredients:
- Readymade base mix
- Passata
- Cheese
- Herbs (mixed herbs/oregano/both!)
- Whatever your favourite toppings are/whatever is in your fridge
1. Firstly turn your oven to 220 Degrees Celsius.
2. The next step is to make your base. #allaboutthatbase. Tip the readymade mixture into a bowl, add 100 millilitres of lukewarm water and give a stir, and then knead the mixture for five minutes/until you get bored.
3. Roll out the mixture. Unfortunately we don’t have a rolling pin, but luckily we do have an excess of empty wine bottles which works just as well. #studentlife. I also attempted the professional toss in the air, with considerably mixed results. Once you have had fun throwing your pizza around your kitchen, roll it out and leave in a warm place for 15 minutes. Hopefully it should expand in size.
4. You can then go crazy. Bea said that I shouldn’t add too many ingredients because it wouldn’t cook properly. She is wise; I decided, however, to ignore her advice. In my opinion, the more food, the better. My suggestions include: bacon, ham, peperoni, olives, peppers, aubergines, sun dried tomatoes, courgettes, onions, mushrooms, artichokes, spinach and pineapples. I believe you can never have too many veggies. Just don’t forget the tomato sauce, and to add lots and lots and lots of cheese. But you can forget the tuna. (Ew).
5. Optional: add some herbs or freshly ground pepper if you want to feel sophisticated.
6. Place in the oven at 220 degrees for around 20 minutes. Turn the pizza around after 10 minutes so that it cooks evenly.
7. Then enjoy! It’s a very filling and very delicious meal. If you are particularly adventurous, my flatmate suggests a gentle dousing of mayonnaise as a flourishing finishing touch, but I would ignore that advice. (That flatmate also food-poisoned themselves a couple of weeks ago #enoughsaid #notpretty.) Then you can enjoy the leftovers for breakfast; posh pizza is the perfect hangover cure for a St Andrews student.