A brief intro before the actual cooking bit...my sister lives in Finland so we usually communicate via text and a weekly Skype call. We both love food and cooking and while I'm still not a seasoned professional at blogging, I encouraged her to also write a blog.
Anyway...as an incentive for both of us to blog more I suggested a monthly recipe challenge. The rules are:
1. Has to be something neither of us have made before
2. We have to post the results not matter how disastrous.
Our challenge this month? Stove top pizza! Having had quite a warm summer this year I thought it would be great to be able to have pizza but without the heat of having the oven on for ages.
So the first attempt was a fail - the recipe called for the dough to be mixed in the pan and although at first it looked like it might work, I ended up with a pizza crust that was nice and crisp on the outside but raw on the inside and not tasty at all - it just tasted of flour.
Back to the drawing board!
Mix the yeast with the warm water and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it starts to get bubbly then mix in the sugar and olive oil.
Add the liquid mixture to the flour and salt and mix together to form a kind of sticky dough.
Allow to rest for about half an hour until the dough has almost doubled in size.
Once the dough has expanded, knead gently and then I kind of pushed the dough ball out to form a base that was roughly the same size as the pan I was going to use.
Brush the base of the pan (or skillet) lightly with olive oil and heat to a medium temperature - I used a non-stick frying pan so didn't need too much oil but you might need to adjust this depending on what type of pan you use.
Place the pizza base in the pan and let it cook for about 10 minutes or until browned and then flip the base over and repeat for the other side.
Once both sides have been browned, flip over again and then add your sauce and toppings. I'll admit it now - I'm not a huge fan of tomato-y sauces so tend to use pesto as a sauce and yes, I cheated and used store bought!
I also added some finely sliced tomatoes (seeds removed so the pizza didn't get too soggy) and on one half, some sliced Quorn Swedish meatballs. I can never decide what toppings I want on my pizza so usually do half and half!
I like my cheese to be a little browned so popped it under the grill for a couple of minutes.
So after a couple of failed attempts I'm pretty pleased with the final result and what a great way to cook pizza when it's scorching outside!
Ingredients (makes enough dough for 2 pizzas)
300g plain white flour
So the first attempt was a fail - the recipe called for the dough to be mixed in the pan and although at first it looked like it might work, I ended up with a pizza crust that was nice and crisp on the outside but raw on the inside and not tasty at all - it just tasted of flour.
Back to the drawing board!
Mix the yeast with the warm water and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it starts to get bubbly then mix in the sugar and olive oil.
Add the liquid mixture to the flour and salt and mix together to form a kind of sticky dough.
Allow to rest for about half an hour until the dough has almost doubled in size.
Once the dough has expanded, knead gently and then I kind of pushed the dough ball out to form a base that was roughly the same size as the pan I was going to use.
Brush the base of the pan (or skillet) lightly with olive oil and heat to a medium temperature - I used a non-stick frying pan so didn't need too much oil but you might need to adjust this depending on what type of pan you use.
Place the pizza base in the pan and let it cook for about 10 minutes or until browned and then flip the base over and repeat for the other side.
Once both sides have been browned, flip over again and then add your sauce and toppings. I'll admit it now - I'm not a huge fan of tomato-y sauces so tend to use pesto as a sauce and yes, I cheated and used store bought!
I also added some finely sliced tomatoes (seeds removed so the pizza didn't get too soggy) and on one half, some sliced Quorn Swedish meatballs. I can never decide what toppings I want on my pizza so usually do half and half!
I like my cheese to be a little browned so popped it under the grill for a couple of minutes.
So after a couple of failed attempts I'm pretty pleased with the final result and what a great way to cook pizza when it's scorching outside!
Ingredients (makes enough dough for 2 pizzas)
300g plain white flour
2/3 cup warm water (more may need to be added if the dough is too dry)
1 packet instant active yeast (7g)
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Toppings
Pesto sauce
Mozzarella
Small tomatoes
Quorn Swedish meatballs
The list of other toppings is endless but if you are using meat, make sure you cook it first as the heat from the pan isn't enough to cook it. I'd also make sure any veggies are cut up quite small so that they heat up properly!
1 packet instant active yeast (7g)
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Toppings
Pesto sauce
Mozzarella
Small tomatoes
Quorn Swedish meatballs
The list of other toppings is endless but if you are using meat, make sure you cook it first as the heat from the pan isn't enough to cook it. I'd also make sure any veggies are cut up quite small so that they heat up properly!
How much water?!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness - I sent a reply using my phone but it didn't upload!
DeleteI used a cup and a half of warm water - add it bit by bit and keep an eye on the dough. Mine was a little sticky but you don't want it s sticky that it won't rise properly.