Easy homemade pizza three ways

Fresh pizza is a firm favourite in this home.  My husband Richard is a very keen cook and makes the most amazing pizza’s from scratch.  Until recently, pizza was only ever a weekend treat because as much as I like cooking, making bread of any kind is beyond me and he of course is at work in the week.  But recently I spotted some frozen pizza dough at Waitrose and I couldn’t wait to try it.  Pizza is something we all enjoy including Anya and it’s so popular with her friends too.  So I saw this as my opportunity to make easy homemade pizza anytime I wanted but without the hassle of making the dough.

Apart from the fact that this easy homemade pizza tastes far better than shop bought, it also allows you to be as creative and varied as you like with the toppings and everybody can have different toppings without much extra effort.  So when I tried out this new frozen dough last week, I decided to go for a basic margherita for Anya (it’s her favourite) and chose some no tomato sauce versions for me and Richard.

Ingredients for potato pizza:
pizza dough
creme fraiche
1 large clove of garlic finely chopped
half red onion
1-2 small waxy potatoes (depending on size)
large handful grated emmental cheese
fresh rosemary
salt & pepper to taste

Ingredients for kids margherita pizza:
pizza dough
tomato sauce
grated mozzarella
pinch of dried oregano
salt to taste

Ingredients for halloumi pizza:
pizza dough
halloumi cheese
3-4 spears asparagus
prosciutto
dried or fresh Italian herbs
olive oil

Pizza base:
The frozen dough is by the Northern Dough Co. The dough comes in boxes of 2 x 220gms ready to roll frozen balls of dough.  I used one of the balls to make 3 individual pizzas as I wanted a range of toppings.  Otherwise one ball can also be used to make a large 12 inch pizza.  Follow the instructions on the box for defrosting the dough.  Roll out the dough on a floured surface.  I used quite a lot of flour as I found the dough sticking and I rolled it out very thin as I like thin and crispy pizzas.  I also use a pizza stone which needs to be really hot and therefore I heat my oven to 250C.  However if you don’t have a pizza stone, just follow the instructions on the box.

Potato Pizza:
Slice the red onion and sautee lightly.  Slice the potatoes very thinly and place in a pan of cold water.  Bring to the boil, boil for 4-5 minutes and drain.  Spread the creme fraiche fairly generously over the pizza base.  Sprinkle with some chopped garlic and top with the sauteed red onions.  Add the potato slices, top with more garlic (believe me when I say don’t hold back on the garlic!).  Sprinkle with grated emmental and add the rosemary.  Season to taste and it’s ready to go in the oven.

Margherita Pizza:
Make the tomato sauce using a tin of Italian plum tomatoes, 2 chopped cloves of garlic and a little olive oil.  Cook the tomatoes for around 40-45 minutes and then puree in to a smooth sauce.  You can also buy ready made pizza sauce if you prefer.  Next, it’s over to the kids.  Anya loves topping her own pizza with the sauce and the cheese.  She will only eat a margherita but your kids can add whatever other toppings they like and they’ll love doing this.  Any leftover dough is great for making fun shapes with cookie cutters and baking.

Halloumi Pizza:
This one is more of loaded bread than a typical pizza but it’s so delicious.  I slice and griddle the halloumi and asparagus as it looks prettier and tastes better but of course this step can be skipped (if skipped then you’ll need to par boil the asparagus).  Get the dough and top with halloumi, asparagus, prosciutto and dried Italian herbs, loading up as generously as you like.  Add a good drizzle of olive oil.  No salt in this one as both halloumi and prosciutto are salty enough.

This frozen dough is really good and the only one I’ve ever seen so far;  not as good as Richard’s homemade pizza dough but a very close second.  I’m so glad I discovered it because it’s so easy to use and a lot less hassle than making your own.  And pizza is the such a family friendly meal.  As far as the toppings go, these were some that I was in the mood for at the time but you can top with anything you wish. Do you think you’ll give this easy homemade pizza a go?

I have joined in with Honest Mum’s tasty tuesdays.

•potato pizza adapted from a Nigel Slater recipe