Gourmet pizza at home #1

In moments of extreme disorganisation and laziness, this frugal foodie must admit to ordering pizza for dinner. Yes, I know, ordering takeaway is not the way to eat cheaply (or healthily for that matter) but there's some nights when only a supreme pizza will do (usually Friday nights when I'm really tired and I've forgotten to defrost the meat!).

My husband and I order two pizzas (always a veggie supreme, then some sort of meat pizza) and about 15 minutes and $20 later, dinner is over, bellies are full and we're happy. Then off to the gym I skip the next day to try and work it all off :)

But really, making my own pizza is my preferred option for indulging my pizza cravings, and really, not that much harder than picking up the phone to place an order. Plus I get to indulge my foodie side and make pizzas you definitely won't find at your local Dominoes.

I haven't worked out the costings for my home made pizzas but I'd say they're quite a bit cheaper to make, and much healthier for you too.

The dough recipe I use comes from an old edition of Super Food Ideas and is a great basis for any homemade pizza. People seem to think recipes containing yeast are hard to make but really, I can't think of anything simpler than placing a little bit of yeast, sugar and warm water in a bowl and letting it froth up. Then you add your frothy yeast mix to your flour, give it all a good knead together (I use my beloved Kitchenaid, but arms make it an excellent workout) and it's ready for toppings. This recipe makes for a thin, crispy base on your pizza, the way Italians (in my unfounded dreams) enjoy it. Plus it freezes really well, meaning you can keep some on standby.

The pizza pictured at the beginning of this post is a pumpkin and basil pizza, and I just love how fresh and simple the flavours of this pizza are. Add a salad and it's the perfect meal, for dinner or lunch. And I don't have to work out so hard at the gym after this pizza dinner :)

Basic Pizza Dough

3/4 cup warm water
8g sachet dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon caster sugar
2 cups plain flour
2 tablespoons olive oil

Place water, yeast and sugar in a bowl and stir to combine. Cover with some Glad Wrap and leave in a warm, sunny spot (or just near a heater if it's nighttime and it's winter!) for five minutes until bubbles appear on the surface.

In a large bowl sift in the flour, then add yeast mixture and the oil. Mix to form a soft dough.
Then here comes the fun bit: the kneading. You can either knead it in a kitchen mixer with a dough hook or you can take it out and knead it with your hands on a floured surface for eight minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. You'll know it's elastic when you press the top of the dough, and it bounces back. Cut the dough in half.

This dough makes enough to serve four people. We normally use one half and freeze the other for future use.

Pumpkin and basil pizza This serves four using all the dough from the recipe above.

INGREDIENTS
1kg butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into little cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil, or olive oil spray
175g ricotta cheese (you can use low fat if you're health conscious)
1/2 cup walnuts, cashews or pine nuts (if using walnuts/cashews roughly chop them)
1/2 cup small basil leaves
Pizza dough (see above)

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C and line a baking with paper. Put your pumpkin cubes on the tray and either drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil or spray with olive oil spray if you're watching the weight. Season with salt and pepper and roast for 20mins until just tender.

While the pumpkin is roasting roll out your pizza dough to line two flat lightly greased baking trays (roughly 22cm x 34cm. Think big cookie sheet size).

Once the pumpkin is ready, top the dough with the pumpkin and crumbled ricotta. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and crisp.

Once the pizza is out of the oven sprinkle with walnuts and basil and drizzle with about 2 teaspoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and serve. Bask in the glow of compliments on your yummy pizza :)

*Note: You can use feta in place of the ricotta, but just don't season it so much. And I haven't tried this yet but I imagine it would be amazing with blue cheese and pecans :)