Hi foodies! I’m back in the kitchen after a fabulous few weeks in the U.K. and Ireland. The family and I packed so much into our time there including lots of sightseeing (i.e. walking, walking and more walking) and time spent catching up with family. In terms of eating out the rand-pound exchange rate is eye-watering at the moment, so home cooked meals were the order of the day, with only a handful of restaurant meals in-between. That was just fine with me. I love a good old nosy around the supermarket shelves over there as there are always new and interesting products to discover and delicacies such as McVities Jaffa Cakes and Tony’s Chocolonelys to stock up on (if you know, you know).
Homemade pizza recipe with yeast dough, pizza sauce and roasted red peppers.
" data-orig-size="4000,6000" />This post is inspired by a pizza we saw on a menu at a pub in Kilkenny, Ireland. It was so intriguing that although I never actually ordered it I knew I wanted to recreate the idea once we got back home. Whether my red pepper, goats cheese and honey (yes honey, trust me) pizza is similar to the original or not I’ll never know, but I was incredibly happy with the result – 10 out of 10 for yumminess!
Roasted red pepper and goats cheese pizza recipe with yeast dough base
" data-orig-size="4000,5739" data-image-title="Roasted red pepper pizza recipe" data-image-caption="" height="1090" eos="" width="760" aperture="aperture" />This recipe makes two large rectangular pizzas. It was plenty for our family of four with a few leftovers for the next day. I usually make a cooked sauce for my homemade pizzas but tried a much quicker and simpler version for this pizza. It was delicious with an intense tomato flavor. If you prefer a cooked sauce then this pizza sauce recipe is the one to make.
Can I prepare the dough and sauce in advance?
Yes, definitely! You can prepare your yeast dough the night before. Once mixed simply cover and refrigerate until the next day. Be sure to place the dough in a large bowl as it will continue to rise in the fridge, only much slower than it would in a warm spot. Bring the dough back to room temperature before rolling it out. The sauce can also be made in advance and stored in the fridge for a few days.
Next time you’re having a “fake-away” night and craving a gourmet pizza give this one a go!
ROASTED RED PEPPER & GOATS CHEESE PIZZA
- Servings: 4-6 (Makes 2 large pizzas)
Pizza base
- 600 g cake flour
- 7.5 ml (1½ tsp) sugar
- 7.5 ml (1½ tsp) fine salt
- 10 g instant yeast
- 30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
- 400 ml warm water
- extra cake flour, for dusting
Pizza sauce
- 1 x 410 g tin tomato puree
- 50 g tomato paste
- 2.5 ml (½ tsp) fine salt
- 2.5 ml (½ tsp) dried oregano
- 2.5 ml (½ tsp) garlic powder
- 5 ml (1 tsp) runny honey
Pizza toppings
- 1 large red pepper
- olive oil, for drizzling
- 400 g mozarella, grated
- 100 g soft goats cheese
- 10 ml (2 tsp) runny honey, for drizzling
- 20 g wild rocket
1.) To prepare the base place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a freestanding mixer, or a large mixing bowl. Stir together then add the yeast. Mix again.
2.) Add the oil and most of the water. Use the dough hook attachment to combine the ingredients, adding more water as needed. Alternatively, mix by hand. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky but easy to handle.
3.) Continue to knead the dough for a few minutes until stretchy, either by hand on a floured surface or using the dough hook attachment on your mixer. Lightly oil the mixing bowl and place the dough back in. Cover and set aside for 1 hour to rise and double in size.
4.) Prepare the sauce by placing the tomato puree, tomato paste, salt, oregano, garlic and honey in a small bowl. Whisk well until combined. Set aside in the fridge.
5.) Preheat the oven to 220ºC and lightly grease a small baking tray. Quarter the red pepper lengthways and trim away the stalk, seeds and white membrane. Arrange the red pepper pieces on the tray and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes until softened and starting to char. Transfer the hot peppers to a heatproof bowl immediately and cover with a plate. Set aside to steam for 10 minutes.
6.) Lower the oven temperature to 200º C. Grease two large baking trays. Lightly dust the work surface with flour and divide the pizza dough in half. Roll each piece into a rectangle roughly 40 x 30 cm. Carefully place a rectangle on each baking tray.
7.) Spread the pizza sauce onto the bases in an even layer. Top with mozzarella. Remove the skin from the red peppers and cut into strips. Arrange the strips on the pizzas and dot pieces of goats cheese over the top.
8.) Bake the pizzas for 15 – 20 minutes, until the bases are golden and cooked through. Drizzle some honey over the pizzas, top with rocket and serve hot.
