Pizza

[bubbles12]

I keep seeing people saying they are having 'home-made pizza' on those 'what are we eating for dinner' threads.
My question is simple, how do you make one? Please tell me thay are quick, simple and the most nutritious thing you can possibly imagine?!

Thanks.

I use the breadmaker to make the dough and make the tomato sauce by boiling down a tin a chopped toms with some herbs. It is surprisingly fiddly and time consuming to assemble and slice all the toppings and roll the dough but the result is yummy and healthy.

You can also use store-bought pizza bases or puff pastry (just don't load it up with too much cheese).

In the US you can buy bags of ready made pizza dough in the supermarket which you can then stretch out and top with what you like, but I've never seen that in the UK.

Oh, and if you want to avoid having to make tomato sauce you can either use jarred pasta sauce, or spread a thin layer of tomato paste on the base and then cover with fresh tomato slices.

we usually buy the bases from sainsbury's - you get 2 8" plain bases for about £1.

and you spread tomato puree on, then grated cheese, then whatever topping you fancy.

you can't put too much cheese on, because it doesn't melt properly, and tastes icky.

I like to put spinach on under the cheese, sometimes: it sticks to the puree.

mushrooms, sweetcorn, peppers, courgettes, asparagus, whatever's in season.

you can also use different cheeses, too, so goats cheese, or feta etc.

and you could use pesto instead of tomato puree as your spread.

you could also make a bread mix (or buy a ready-made bread mix and follow the packet instructions)
you have to roll it out thinly, cos it can be stodgy.

Or you can make scone mix up, flatten it out on a tray and put tomato sauce (eg dolmio) and cooked veggies on top

VERY easy and quick

Golly, you people are brilliant - loads of good suggestions. Not thought of using pesto, that sounds really yummy.

adelaidegirl - that scone idea has just reminded me that my darling Nan, who recently died, used to do that and it is indeed really delicious so thansk for the lovely memory you jogged without knowing!

tye jussroll (the pastry people) do a tube of ready made pizza dough, you also get a jar of tomato sauce. We've had it a couple of times & the dough was a bit deep-pan for my liking (I'm a thin & crispy girl) but perhaps DH needed to roll it out a bit!

asda now do frozen pizza dough....

I use ready rolled uncooked pizza dough (easy to find here in Belgium but I presume something similar is available in the UK) which I stretch out a bit on a baking tray, then drizzle over a bit of olive oil, spread on a couple of tablespoons of passata (much cheaper than ready made pasta sauce), top with basil leaves or dots of pesto and shredded mozzarella. Cook for ten mins in a v hot oven (230 degrees). I don't usually bother with extra toppings as it's delicious as it is, though if trying to get extra veg into DD I might add finely chopped peppers or very thinly sliced courgettes.

This recipe is so easy and fast and is just delicious.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4683/pizza-margherita-in-4-easy-steps

Many thanks folks. The bbc recipe looks great.

I agree with everything everyone else has said about toppings and so on - my top tip is to get yourself a little tin of Sainsbury's Chair de Tomate. It's basically the equivalent of what you get when you reduce a can of tomatoes down, but without the bother of doing it.

I mix in a drizzle of olive oil, pinch of dried oregano, pinch of sea salt and a good grind of black pepper, and then lob it on the pizzas.

On Saturday, Dh and I made pizzas using some naan breads we had in the freezer!
we spread a bit of pesto on, then sprinkled cheese, and threw on a bit of frozen kale, some dollops of baked beans and some sliced onion.

We ate it with salad.
it was lovely!

It used to be a sunday thing with us when the boys were small, make dough in the morning then in the evening everyone made their own pizza and ate it in front of the telly watching scrapheap challenge.
Kids love making their own pizzas

Your topping sounds yum nickelbabe nan is a good idea, cant imagine what the markrting people could call that topping--Kale and farty perhaps!

We did this for the first time last friday.

I bought ready made pizza bases (froze the extra ones) and made the tomato sauce with a third of a tin of chopped toms, olive oil, mixed herbs & small amount of tom puree.

Kids had a grest time making their pizzas choosing toppings etc...

it's getting even better with the summer veg coming into the shops - we love peppers on there, too.

and the courgettes will be out soon, and they make great toppings.

nickelbabe, you just reminded me of this asparagus pizza.

Delicious stuff.

Granted, the DCs would turn their nose up at it, but DH and I enjoyed it late in the garden with an icy cold Sauvignon Blanc

ooh, lovely.
yes, asparagus is a good topping, too in the summer

pizza dough is very easy to make even without a bread machine,just google recipes. I dont even cook down the tinned tomatoes I use em straight from the can, it works fine, mind you Ive been in america for 24 years so have developed american tastes

My kids love the bbq pizza which is basically any old bottle bbq sauce poured on the dough with cheddar or pepperjack ( dont know if you get that there) cheese,caramelized onions and chopped cooked chicken

Pesto pizza with chicken I use just a tad of grated parmesan cheese with this one

White pizza is just garlic olive oil for a base on top of dough with chopped cooked chicken and broccoli or spinach with a little grated mozzarella or any mild cheese if you want. This pizza is also really good with a squeeze lemon juice and grated lemon rind

I love pizza :o