Monday, March 8, 2010

Mixed Herbs Pizza

Sometime last month, the family was out to run some errands and we had pizza for dinner at a local restaurant.  It was the worst pizza I've ever had, crust was ultra thick (more like eating bread), pathetic ingredients and I thought the pizzas had taken a dip in a pool of oil.  I decided to make my own since we have not had homemade pizzas for more than 2 months.

With some leftover bakkwa from CNY sitting in the fridge, I decided to try HHB's mixed herbs pizza.  Added some sauted button mushrooms and tomatoes but I forgot my olives :-(

Instead of hand kneading, I let my breadmachine do the job.  It was a breeze and my time saver as I could spend some good quality time with my kids where the machine did the work.

DH had been complaining I've been too generous with my cheese and that contributed to his waistline expansion so I went easy with the cheese now.

HHB mentioned that the centre of her pizza crust was less crispy as compared to the edge.  I thought the problem could be easily resolved since I always pre-bake my pizza crust.  However, even with pre-baking, the centre of the pizza crusts remained soft :-(

Hawaiian pizza again.  This is a "must have" whenever we have homemade pizza.  With the balance bakkwa, mushrooms and tomatoes, I laid the balance ingredients at the side of the pan.

A slightly over-baked pizza as I was bathing DD3 :P

Mixed Herbs Pizza
(Adapted from Baking with Kids by Linda Collister)

Ingredients
300g bread flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoon instant yeast
3/4 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
185ml lukewarm water (I used room temperature)
1.5 tablespoon olive oil

Method
  1. Place flour, salt, yeast and dried mixed herbs in a mixing bowl. Mix well with hand. Make a well in the centre and add the water and olive oil. Using your hand, gradually work the ingredients together to form a soft dough.
  2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10mins until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Shape dough into a round ball and place in a lightly oiled mixing bowl. Cover with cling wrap and leave to rise for 1 hr or until double in size.
  3. Turn out the risen dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knock it down to release the air. Give it a few gentle kneading. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Shape into two balls, cover loosely with cling wrap and let the doughs rest for about 10mins.
  4. Roll or press out each portion to a round, about 12" in size. Place dough on baking tray lined with parchment paper or on a greased pan.
  5. Dock with a fork all around the crust.
  6. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 8 - 10 mins. Set aside till further use.
  7. Spread some pizza sauce over the dough to within 1 cm (0.5 inch) of the edge. Arrange a layer of grated cheese (I used grated mozzarella), followed by preferred toppings. Sprinkle the top all over with grated cheese.
  8. Bake in a preheat oven at 200 degC for 10 - 12 mins or until the crust has turned golden and the cheese has melted. Serve warm.

11 comments:

My Little Space said...

Wow, another tempting menu of the day! Hmm...mmm... Pizza always a family favourite. Even Abolone or shark fin can't beat this! hahaha....

WendyinKK said...

Yummy.
This reminds me that I haven't made pizza for almost 2 years!!!

Kitchen Corner said...

Your pizzas look very delicious! There baked in thin crust and lots of cheese! Looks very tasty.. I'm feeling hungry just looking at it.

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

I also prefer to bake my own pizza at home.

Food For Tots said...

What a mouth-watering pizza! So generous with the topping! Something you can never find in the restaurant. To make the pizza cruncy, maybe u can try to use a pizza pan with hole and also use some semolina flour. Just my personal view. Hope it helps.

Ren- Lady Of The Arts said...

We make homemade pizza at least once a week (if not twice). Same thing half is what the monkeys want half is what my husband and I want- I always use spinach because it tastes so good baked.

MaryMoh said...

Wow....your pizza looks very delicious. beautiful pictures.

tigerfish said...

This pizza must be so darn good!

DG said...

Pizza ... it's yummy. Agree with u, Hawaiian Pizza is a "must", especially there are kids at home. :)

Bakericious said...

the pizza looks so tempting, i shd bake it during this Sun if possible since dear daughter has been asking for a few times.

Blessed Homemaker said...

Thanks all. We just had another round of pizza for dinner again. The kids just don't get bored eating pizzas!