PIZZA

And so onto a topic I dearly love and that my housemate has encouraged me to write about so I stop banging on about it to him all the time – PIZZA.

I have spent a long time considering what my favourite meal is, a roast dinner has to be up there, I love toad in the hole and tartiflette is still one of my faves.

I think people expect me to choose something pretentious or fancy but faced with the question “If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?” I would heartily and unashamedly bellow “PIZZA!”

For me pizza ticks all the boxes- bread, cheese, meats, roasted veg, chilli oil, garlic butter. So many different combinations, so much scope for creativity within the constraints of a single disc of dough, call me boring but I could and have eaten it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (Oh that famous Pizza Wednesday whilst travelling in Italy)

So naturally this obsession has led me to look for a favourite pizza place in London and try out a few restaurants that have been recommended to me.

Franco Manca

http://www.francomanca.co.uk/

Many people have claimed this is their favourite pizza haunt in London. Growing from humble Brixton market beginnings to the chain of south London restaurants it is today, Franco Manca’s should be my favourite pizza place on paper.

Wonderful regionally sourced ingredients, their Gloucester Old Spot chorizo is produced by David Tomlin, one of the founders of the Rare Breed Survival Trust. Their creamy burrata and mozzarella is produced by their very own cheese maker Albino Scalzitti. Their simple menu and relaxed shared-table dining style really appeals and makes for a lovely evening and a great atmosphere. The open kitchen and huge pizza oven makes for a lovely centrepiece. One other outstanding feature (of the Northcote Road branch) is the service, we were served but a lovely Italian waitress who gave us a whole history of pizza and how they are made in the different regions of Italy.

If only the pizzas lived up to their legend. An emphasis is placed on the sourdough pizza bases at Franco Manca’s but the sad fact is, I don’t really like them. For me a pizza needs to be crisp and doughy at the same time with a good proportion of crunchilious crust to soft breadyness. Franco Manca’s pizzas seem to assume that you will enjoy chewing on the soughdough outer rim (can’t really be called a crust) hours after you have a finished the toppings which only seem to cover 50% of the pizza.

The thought is there, I will still go back (for one thing it is great value for money) but Franco Manca, for me, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Pizza East

http://www.pizzaeast.com/

Living in South London I hadn’t had the chance to venture to this much written about East London Pizzeria until last Wednesday.

I’d heard only good things about its delicious pizzas with authentic Italian ingredients. It’s homely yet vast interior was great with thousands of staff members whizzing around and huge open kitchen. (it was almost like a larger version of Franco Manca but with Giant lamps dangling from the ceiling. )

After a delicious starter of creamy Burrata, which was served with swiss chard and olives, we tucked into a veggie and meat options. The aubergine, smoked mozzarella and tomato was delicious, bursting with flavour and a delicious crispy crust.

 However our Artichoke and Procuittio cotto with mozzarella appeared to be entirely mozzarella-less. Skimping on cheese = unhappy Cat.

I believe a pizza should have the ingredients baked into it in the oven so it comes out bubbling and delicious, plonking artichoke and ham on top of a cheese-less tomato base does not a pizza make!

 I would go back to Pizza East though and from looking around at the diners around me I had serious pizza envy, the spicy sausage and tenderstem broccoli looked amazing and the veal meatball pizza sounds really intriguing!

 “So what would you suggest!?”  I hear you cry…

I’ve been making pizza at home for my friends for a while now. There is only so far you can get with a normal oven but I’ve been using the same dough recipe for a while now and it gives great results. In terms of toppings I like to experiment and my new favourite is a courgette ribbon and mozzarella pizza that has an incredible flavour.

Ingredients

Basic Pizza Dough (Makes 3 – 4 pizza bases)500g white bread flour or Tipo '00' flour1 teaspoon fine sea salt7 g dried yeast sachets½ tsp tablespoon golden caster sugar2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil325 ml lukewarm water

1.      First sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle

2.      Mix together your yeast, sugar, olive oil and water together in a jug and leave for a few minutes, then pour it into the well.

3.      Gradually bring the flour into the water mixture with a fork, then using your hands work it into a dough.

4.      Turn the dough out onto a flour dusted surface and knead for 10 minutes or until you have a springy dough.

5.      Place you ball of dough in a large flour dusted bowl and cover the top.

6.      Leave in a warm room to prove for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

Courgette ribbons topping

Ingredients

1 courgette
2 tablespoons of grated parmasan
Lug of olive oil
Chopped mint
Crushed Garlic
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons of tomato sauce
torn mozzarella cheese

1.      While your dough is proving, make your marinated ribbons by running a speed peeler down the length of your courgette to make a jumble of thin ribbons.

2.      Place you ribbon in a bowl and mix them together with the other ingredients before placing the bowl in the fridge for when you’re ready to top your pizza.

3.      Don’t forget to preheat your oven, turn it up as hot as you can. The hotter the oven the crisper the crust.

4.      Once your dough has doubled in size, cut it into 4 equal balls and roll out your dough on a floured surface to the desired size and thickness. I prefer to roll it slightly thinner than I want it as it tends to shrink back.

5.      Top your base with the tomato sauce (alternatively you can use ricotta for a pizza bianco)

6.      Pile on your courgette ribbons and scatter liberally with torn mozzarella

7.      Bake for 10 minutes or until golden and bubbling.