Easy Peasy Pizza

I spend most of my time in the kitchen, cooking and baking, so naturally my children enjoy getting creative in the kitchen every now and again. If you normally don't cook with your children I'd urge you to give it a try. If you're able to handle a little extra flour on your worktop then cooking with children is a lot less stressful than you might think. It's an activity that can be enjoyed together without leaving your house and children are so proud to show what they have made with their own little hands. I have suggested some recipe on my Cooking with Kids page that my children enjoy to make. The rolling and cutting out of dough is ever popular with children, so whether it's a biscuit mixture or a dough for scones the children could spend a good hour working hard, constructing their own little masterpiece. So a pizza base made out of a scone mixture is a good introduction for children to baking.

 Most children adore pizzas but often the shop bought variety can be less than desirable. When rustling up your own pizza at home there are many options for a base. French bread, pitta breads and tortillas can all be used and my boys absolute favourite quick pizza is made using a naan bread as the base. If you have a little bit of time for preparing your pizza, and would like the children to help, this Easy Peasy Pizza is a perfect choice. It's a lot healthier than many alternatives and the dough can be easily managed by little hands. It can be topped by this quick to make tomato sauce but alternatively a shop bought jar of pasta sauce would also be ideal. Any toppings such as ham, pepperoni, cooked chicken, peppers, onion or mushrooms could be used or just cheese would make a very tasty pizza.

Easy Peasy Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

225g self raising flour

½ teaspoon salt

55g butter

100mls milk

Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, crushed

400mls passata

½ tsp dried mixed herbs

Toppings of choice- e.g. chorizo/ham/pineapple/tomato/onions

Mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

Mature cheddar cheese, grated

Method

1. First, make the sauce; Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium sized saucepan, add the finely diced onion and garlic. Sauté on a low heat for 5 minutes and then add the passata and mixed herbs. Simmer on a low heat for 15 minutes. The sauce can be used like this, or blitz for a smoother sauce.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas 6.

3. Put the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, and then rub in the butter.

4. When the mixture is like breadcrumbs, pour in the milk. Stir together until you have a smooth ball of dough.

5. Lightly flour your work surface. Divide your dough into four balls and roll out each one using a lightly floured rolling pin.

6. Place the dough onto a baking tray that. Pinch up the edges to make a crust to stop the cheese from spilling out when melted. Always place the dough onto the baking tray before putting on your sauce and toppings.

7. Spread the tomato sauce over the base and then top with the toppings of your choice, and finally top with some cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Try not to overload the pizza with toppings, as it won’t cook evenly.

8.  Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until the pizza is crispy and golden.

9.  To serve, top with a few basil leaves.

The boys were especially giddy on this particular day and found my directions for  preparing the pizzas hilarious!!

In other news I've been invited to host a cookery demo at Ballyegan hall in Birr this Wednesday the 9th February at 8pm. If you are in the area do call in. 
This is not food related but I thought that I'd share it with you. There was an article in last Wednesday's Irish Independent where journalist Heidi Scrimgeour gave the pros and cons of married couples having a regular date night. Heidi contacted me a few weeks back for my opinion and she included some of our chat in her article. It's a light hearted but thought-provoking piece and here is the on-line edition if you'd like to have a read of it. http://j.mp/yB1ZSH