Make our cosy Wild Mushroom Pizza (from scratch!)
Pizza, easily one of our favourite meals. But it has to be good. Minimal toppings and an excellent dough. Last weekend we decided to make our own pizza from scratch - Wild Mushroom Pizza with caramelised onion, potato, goats cheese, gruyere cheese and thyme. It was a rainy Sunday, we had all the ingredients in our fridge and pantry, and the kids were remarkably chill. A recipe for success. Read on for the ingredients and steps.
Serves
2 people
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
1 1/2 Cups of warm water
1 Tsp caster sugar
1 Tbs dried yeast (2 x 14g packets)
4 Cups of plain flour
1/3 Cup of olive oil
2 Tsp salt
Extra splash of olive oil
Toppings
2 Cups of wild mushrooms of your choice, sliced. We had enoki, shiitake and button.
3 Sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to season
1/4 Cup of Olive oil
1 Potato, sliced thinly
1 Red onion, sliced
1 Tbs of caster sugar
1 Tbs of red wine vinegar
1 Cup finely grated gruyere cheese. Finely grated Mozzarella is also lovely!
Meredith Dairy Marinated Goats Cheese, for garnishing (at least 2 to 4 cubes).
Equipment
Small mixing bowl
2 Large mixing bowls
Butter knife
Small saucepan
Rolling pin
Flat baking tray
Baking tray
Baking paper
Aluminium foil
Method
The first thing you need to do is make and prove the pizza dough. In a small mixing bowl combine the warm water, sugar and yeast. Set aside until the yeast activates and the mixture goes foamy. If it doesn't foam, the yeast is not active.
In a large mixing bowl combine the flour and salt, then add the yeast mixture and olive oil. Combine the ingredients using a butter knife in a slicing motion then use your hands to bring the dough together.
Lightly flour your kitchen bench, and knead the dough using the heel of your hand to push, stretch, lift and fold. Knead for 10 to 15 minutes until the dough feels smooth and bouncy. Shape into a ball. To test the dough, press down with one or two fingers and if it springs back, it's ready. If it's a cold day, you may need to knead the dough for up to 15 minutes.
Lightly oil the surface of the dough ball to stop a crust forming, place in a clean large mixing bowl, cover with cling/plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm spot to allow it to rise for 30 minutes or until it at least doubles in size. It was cold the day we made the dough, and we had some clothes in the dryer, so we left the dough to prove in the warm laundry room.
While the dough is proving, preheat the oven to at least 240°C.
On low heat, cook the onion down in a small saucepan with a splash of olive oil. Stir occasionally and until the onion softens. Add the sugar and vinegar, keep stirring occasionally until the onion is caramelised. Set aside. While this is happening, move onto the next step and prepare the mushrooms.
Place the sliced mushrooms, thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper onto a baking tray lined with aluminium foil. Toss then roast the mushrooms for at least 15 minutes in the oven, until they are golden in colour and almost caramelised. Set aside.
By now your dough should have doubled in size. Punch the dough in the middle to remove the air. Knead into a ball and divide into two portions. We divided ours into four and made two garlic and cheese pizzas for Dusty.
Roll out one portion on a lightly floured surface to your desired thickness.
Place the pizza dough onto a flat baking try lined with baking paper, and add your toppings.
We started by slightly oiling the top of the pizza and adding a layer of thinly sliced potato. We put this into the oven for 10 minutes until the crusts were slightly golden in colour. Then we added (in the following order) the grated gruyere cheese, caramelised onions, wild mushrooms and a bit more grated gruyere cheese.
Place the pizza into the oven for a further 5 to 10 minutes, until the crust and cheese is golden brown.
Season with goats cheese, fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Slice and enjoy!
