Hello. So today's exploit took place in a foreign kitchen somewhere in my home-province of KwaZulu-Natal. Inspiration for this post was found (repeatedly) at a delight of a restaurant called Brenaissance. We have frequently enjoyed a similar pizza at their lovely little cafe situated on a wine farm on the outskirts of Stellenbosch. If you get a chance to pop in there, be sure to try out their Rose Geranium & Berry Bliss cordial drink, its exquisite on a warm summer day.
The pizza base recipe was borrowed from the beloved Jamie Oliver - when in doubt, trust Jamie. An expert pizza maker friend conveniently walked in just at the crucial kneading step of this recipe, and gave me a few cheeky tips to perfect the process - many of which I've tried to include within this recipe. This link might help you with the typical kneading technique.
I may be speculating - or cheesifying - but I think the trick here is to just have fun, knead with a merry heart, and know that when dough, cheese and tomato paste are combined with love, the outcome will still delight the soul.
biltong, avocado, feta & fig pizza
with fresh rocket and a sweet fig balsamic reduction
[creates 4 - 5 medium pizzas]
500g cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
7g dried yeast
1/2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
325ml lukewarm water
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 to 2 rounds of soft danish feta
250g rare biltong, sliced thinly
1 avocado, sliced thinly
1 large fig, preserved in syrup and chopped into small chunks
handful fresh rocket
balsamic reduction - we used Poetry's Balsamic Syrup Dried Fig which is arguably the most spectacular balsamic reduction on Earth, if you can't get a hold of this, I suggest combining some of the syrup from the fig preserve with the balsamic reduction to create something similar to this figgy bliss
sieve the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle
in a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and set aside for 5 minutes
pour the yeast mixture into the well
using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid
continue mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in
when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands
knead until you have a smooth, springy dough
place the ball of dough in a large olive oil greased bowl and rub the exposed surface of the dough with a small amount of olive oil
cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size
* you can speed up this process by placing the dough (in a bowl covered by a damp cloth) in the oven at a very low temperature - perhaps 60 degrees celsius. After it has risen for 10 minutes, take the bowl out of the oven and "punch-in" the dough, so that it almost deflates a little. Repeat this process once more and your dough should be ready to use. Wrap it up in cling wrap and freeze it if you'd like to use it at a later time
place the dough onto a flour-dusted surface and knead it briefly to push the air out with your hands – this is called knocking back the dough
voila! roll out your dough to your preferred shape and size and pop it in the oven on a lightly flour-dusted baking sheet at 200 degrees celsius until it starts to lift off the surface and is just starting to brown
covered your pizza base with 1/2 tablespoon of tomato paste and danish feta
place the pizza back into the oven until it is looking crispy and delicious
remove the pizza from the oven and dress it with the biltong, sliced avocado, fig chunks, rocket and your figgy balsamic reduction
eat up
and happy fooding!
[creates 4 - 5 medium pizzas]
500g cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
7g dried yeast
1/2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
325ml lukewarm water
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 to 2 rounds of soft danish feta
250g rare biltong, sliced thinly
1 avocado, sliced thinly
1 large fig, preserved in syrup and chopped into small chunks
handful fresh rocket
balsamic reduction - we used Poetry's Balsamic Syrup Dried Fig which is arguably the most spectacular balsamic reduction on Earth, if you can't get a hold of this, I suggest combining some of the syrup from the fig preserve with the balsamic reduction to create something similar to this figgy bliss
sieve the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle
in a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and set aside for 5 minutes
pour the yeast mixture into the well
using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid
continue mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in
when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands
knead until you have a smooth, springy dough
place the ball of dough in a large olive oil greased bowl and rub the exposed surface of the dough with a small amount of olive oil
cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size
* you can speed up this process by placing the dough (in a bowl covered by a damp cloth) in the oven at a very low temperature - perhaps 60 degrees celsius. After it has risen for 10 minutes, take the bowl out of the oven and "punch-in" the dough, so that it almost deflates a little. Repeat this process once more and your dough should be ready to use. Wrap it up in cling wrap and freeze it if you'd like to use it at a later time
place the dough onto a flour-dusted surface and knead it briefly to push the air out with your hands – this is called knocking back the dough
voila! roll out your dough to your preferred shape and size and pop it in the oven on a lightly flour-dusted baking sheet at 200 degrees celsius until it starts to lift off the surface and is just starting to brown
covered your pizza base with 1/2 tablespoon of tomato paste and danish feta
place the pizza back into the oven until it is looking crispy and delicious
remove the pizza from the oven and dress it with the biltong, sliced avocado, fig chunks, rocket and your figgy balsamic reduction
and happy fooding!