Today I made Black Pudding, Bacon and Asparagus Pizza
Pizza seems to have made it's way more and more into our staple diet over the last number of years and with it, into our hearts. With more pizza joints than pubs scattered across the country. Whether it's a Friday afternoon dinner, a mid-week snack or a late night feast, pizza is our go-to food. For every good pizzeria out there, there are an equal number of bad ones. I never really saw the point of frozen pizzas, for the same amount of time it takes to cook a frozen pizza you could have your own pizza made and it tastes a million times nicer. Making your own pizza means you can make it as healthy or naughty as you like. Nothing beats the taste of fresh pizza dough and sauce, "just like mamma use to make".
Ingredients:
(12 Inch Pizza)
For the Dough:
- 200g DeCecco Pizza Flour - and dusting flour
- 1 Packet Dry Yeast
- 120mls Warm Water
- 1 Teaspoon Honey - I like to use Déise Honey
- 1/2 salt Teaspoon
- 1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
For the Sauce:
- 12-15 Grantstown Suntini Sweet Tomatoes
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1/2 Red Onion
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1/2 Teaspoon Basil
- 1/2 can Cirio Tomato Pureé
- 1 Teaspoon OHCo Cajun Spice
- 1/4 Teaspoon Déise Honey
- Pinch Of Salt
For the Toppings:
- 1/3 pack of Rosscarbery Black Pudding - Cut into cube
- J. Crowe and Sons Dry Cured Streaky Bacon - cut up small
- 8-10 Asparagus Tips
- Creamy Mozzarella - amount may very on level of love of cheese
Instructions:
Pizza Base
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. I normally start with the pizza dough so it can be proofing while I make the sauce and prepare the toppings. Sift the pizza flour into a large bowl - preferably glass. In a jug put the warm water, stir in the yeast till all the yeast is dissolved then add the honey, Salt and Olive Oil. Make a well in the flour and pour in half the water and yeast mixture. With a metal spoon start to incorporate the flour and water, then add in the remainder of the water and continue to mix. Normally at this point I switch to using my hands.
2. When you have brought the dough together it will start to come away from the bowl, feel free to add a little more flour if the dough feels very sticky. When you have it together, turn the ball of dough out on to a floured surface. Begin to knead the dough by using the heels of your hands moving them in opposite directions almost trying to tear the dough then bringing it back together again. Do this for 2-3 minutes till it starts to look smooth.
3. Put the smooth dough ball into an oiled bowl, flip the dough over once so that it is covered in the oil. Place cling film or a towel over the bowl, I normally use a damp towel to keep the dough from drying out during the proofing process. Place in a warm, dark place - Tip - I normally turn on the dryer while I'm making the pizza dough so by the time I have it ready the inside of the dryer is the perfect temperature. So you have your warm, dark place. Just make sure you don't turn the dryer on... But you can use a Hot Press or anywhere that's dark and warm. Leave the dough proof for 30 minutes.
Tomato Sauce
4. While the Dough is proofing you can make the Pizza Sauce. Drizzle the Olive Oil into a frying pan. Crush or finely chop the garlic and add that in when the oil is hot. Fry for a few minutes then add in the finely chopped Red Onion. Cook these together till the onions start to soften, this normally only takes a few minutes. The onion will start to go transparent.
5. Cut your Grantstown Suntini Sweet Tomato's in half and add them to the onion and garlic, fry these until the tomatoes start to soften, at this point I normally use a thongs to give each tomato a little squish, this helps to break the tomatoes down. These tomatoes are grown only 4 miles from Ardkeen Quality Food Store and are delivered daily so they are literally picked from the vine and then delivered to the store within hours. It's at this point I add in my secret ingredient of 1 Teaspoon of OHCo Cajun Spice.
6. Work in the spice, you may need to add a teaspoon of water at this point to loosen the sauce. Everything should be after cooking down and softening and start to look like a sauce - there is no need to blend this sauce, the ingredients are so fresh they cook down to . At this point add in your Cirio Tomato Pureé and honey. The honey brings out the natural sweetness of the fresh tomatoes. You can taste the sauce at this stage and see if you need to add salt or pepper. I didn't add any to my sauce as I just love the natural taste of the tomatoes.
7. Add in the Basil now at this point. You can use fresh Basil if you wish but I normally just use Heritage Dried Basil. You still get that same Basil-y flavour and it's not wilting away in my fridge. Everybody knows tomatoes and basil are best friends and in this sauce you can taste why.
Toppings
8. Preparing the Toppings are super easy. Cut off the amount of Rosscarbery Black Pudding you wish to use, I normally use about a third, cut it in half then into little cubes, or slices if you prefer. Make sure the pieces are not too big and are all the same size as you want them all to cook well and all at the same time.
9. Cut the J. Crowe and Sons Dry Cured Streaky Bacon into small pieces, around the same size as the black pudding cubes so that everything cooks at the same time. You can trim a little of the fat off if you wish.
10. For the Asparagus, cut just where the tip part of the Asparagus begins and about the same amount down from that - this is the most tender part of the Asparagus.
11. Take out the bowl containing the pizza dough from the dryer, it will have doubled in size. The next step is possibly my favourite part of making pizza. You need to knock the air out of the dough. It just so happens that the best way to do this is...... punching it repeatedly. When you have gotten the dough back to it's normal size again you and turn it out on to a floured surface.
12. The dough will be very smooth and if you press it with a finger it will spring back into place again. Make sure your surface is well floured as the dough will be slightly moist from the oil. Start to work the dough back into a ball again, sprinkling with a little flour as you need it. Begin to start pressing the air out of the dough and flattening it and getting it into the "pizza" shape aka a circle... Feel free to work it into a square or rectangle depending what shape tin you are going to cook it on.
13. When you have it formed into the general shape you like, you can move it to your tin and work it out to the edges. I normally prick the dough with a fork a number of times before I load on the tomato sauce, I like my pizza quite saucy so I don't hold back but you can certainly add less if you wish.
14. Now is the time to load on those toppings. I like to take my organised chaos approach to this step too. You want to make sure that you get a little bit of everything in each bite and that the toppings are not on top of each other so that It all cooks at the same time. I normally put on the Award Winning Black Pudding first then intertwine the Bacon around the Black Pudding, then the Asparagus Tips and finished with the Mozzarella, you can either slice the Mozzarella or tear it, I usually tear it as it gives a more rustic look.
15. Bake the Pizza for 20-25 minutes at 200°C. Until the cheese is melted and starting to bubble. You can lift the base slightly with a spatula to make sure the base is nice and golden. I sprinkled this pizza with a little fine grated Mozzarella before serving.
"Home is where the pizza is."
I also made pizza tonight using the Pizza da Piero bases from Ardkeen! Used to make our own dough as well but find the Pizza da Piero ones just as good tbh. The pizza sauce I make is really similar to yours! Love it :) x
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