Vegetarian Pizza

We have been cooking up a vegetarian storm ever since getting a copy of River Cottage Veg Everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall last week. Even though none of the recipes contain meat or fish, I wouldn’t call it a vegetarian cookbook – the recipes are things the average person would enjoy and are all positively delicious.

Vegetarian Pizza with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s magic bread dough and roasted tomato sauce

Courtesy of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

 

Pizza dough for 6 small pizzas:

• 250g white or brown bread flour
• 250g plain white flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 325ml warm water
• About 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 handful coarse flour for dusting

Suggested toppings:

• Roasted tomato sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Spinach
• Mushrooms
• Pineapple
• Olives
• Chilli
• Avocado
• Feta cheese

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, mix the flours, yeast, salt and water to form a sticky dough.
2. Mix in the oil, then turn out on to a clean work surface and knead until smooth and silky.
3. Shape into a round, and leave to rise for about 1 hour in a clean bowl, covered with a plastic bag, until doubled in size.
4. Preheat the oven as high as it will go.
5. Take a lime-sized piece of dough and roll it into a 5mm thick round.
6. Dust a rimless baking sheet with coarse flour, lay the dough on it, add your toppings and slip the pizza from the sheet on to a hot baking tray.
7. Bake until any cheese is bubbling and the base is taking on some colour, typically seven to nine minutes.