BACK YARD PIZZA – COURGETTE, RICOTTA, PESTO, ORGANIC TOMOATO AND FIORDILATTE MOZZARELLA PIZZA & DALSTON’S FIZZY ELDERFLOWER SODA

This is a great combination of food and drink, especially when the sun is shining. It is everything that is good about Summer, floral elderflower fizz along with a fresh tasting pizza of courgettes, ricotta and pesto.

Makes 4 pizzas

INGREDIENTS:

• 500g strong bread flour
• 15g sea salt
• 7g fast action yeast
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 300ml cold water
• 150ml passata
• 150g mozzarella
• 1 courgette
• 250g ricotta
• 1 basil plant
• 50g parmesan
• 50g pinenuts
• 1 lemon with zest
• 1 garlic clove

MAKING THE DOUGH

On the morning of pizza night, start by dissolving the yeast into the cold water. Tip the flour onto a clean surface and make a hole in the middle big enough to pour in the water.

Slowly add the water, salt and 1tbsp olive oil, using a fork start mixing the flour and water together until you can start using your hands to kneed the dough. Kneed for around 10 minutes or until you have an elastic smooth dough, put into a large, lightly oiled bowl and leave to double in size for 6 hours somewhere cool.

SHAPING THE DOUGH

Tip the now risen dough onto a floured work surface knocking out most of the air bubbles and divide into 4 balls each weighing 200g, using your hands, shape the dough into rounds tucking the edges underneath until tightly compact.

Put the 4 dough balls onto a floured tray and cover with cling film, they now need their final prove for around 3 hours.

TOPPINGS

Season the passata with a pinch of salt, this goes onto the pizza raw for a fresh tomato taste.

Slice the courgette into thin discs and fry in a little oil until golden, remember to season these generously otherwise they will have little taste.

To make the pesto add basil, pinenuts, parmesan, lemon juice and zest, garlic and 4tbsp olive oil to a small blender and blitz to a puree (you may need to add a little water to get it mixing).

MAKING THE PIZZA

When it comes to making the pizzas, you now want to retain as many air bubbles in the dough as possible to achieve that puffed up crust, DO NOT use a rolling pin. Instead use your hands to stretch the dough on a well floured work surface being careful not to touch the outside edge where the crust will form.

COOKING THE PIZZA

You can use a pizza stone (if you have one) for this, but I find that a fry pan works really well.

Firstly, set your grill to its highest temperature and put a large frying pan onto a medium heat. Take your now stretched dough and place into the hot pan, this will be a bit fiddly but you’ve got time to readjust the dough and make sure it fits in nice and snug, now its time to assemble the pizza, while the base is cooking, with your toppings.

The base of the pizza should be nice and golden by the time you’ve finished assembling, you can now put the frying pan under the grill until the pizza is golden and bubbling. Finish with a final drizzle of

good extra virgin olive oil and EAT & SLURP!