Pizzas were made for weekends, or is it the other way round? Either way our weekends nearly always involve pizza, they are part of our family movie night tradition, you probably have one too, so you may know the drill : a movie, usually a kids type movie, pizza and popcorn and well for my girl that also means a later than usual bedtime 😉 The later than usual bedtime is my fault really as I make my own pizzas and I’m not a very organized person so hence the lateness of our friday nights. Anyway this is one of my favourite pizzas that is on the rotating list for movie night, my favourite Artichoke, olive & caper pizza.
I have been making this pizza on and off for about 11 years now and it has changed a bit over the years from the original recipe. The original recipe comes from one of the very first vegetarian cookbooks I bought for myself, Great Vegetarian Food by The Australian Women’s Weekly, it’s not a fancy cookbook by a celebrity chef, but it gave a great start to cooking. If you’ve read some of my other posts you will know that I was a vegetarian for about seven years before we had our little girl. Well I was also a pretty bad cook, I sort of lived on jacket potatoes and pot noodles, yeah I know, hey I was too busy going out with the girls to be cooking!
Anyway when I met my husband I started to cook but I got caught out passing off a Jane Asher muffin mix as my very own lovely chocolate muffins and I was shamed into buying a cookbook and learning how to cook! Shameful, I know! I still hear about it! The first thing I made from that cookbook was this pizza, it has changed a bit from the original recipe but it is still one of my favourites. Oh and I still use this cookbook for inspiration sometimes.
Artichoke, Olive & Caper Pizza
Ingredients
- For the dough:
- 250 g strong wholemeal bread flour + more for rolling out the dough
- 160 ml warm water
- 1 x 7g sachet of fast acting yeast
- 1 tbs olive oil + more for proving
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- For the sauce:
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 100 ml water
- 1 medium onion (100g), chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 medium cloves of garlic , minced
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
- A small pinch of sea salt
- A little freshly ground black pepper
- Toppings:
- 100 g mozzarella , sliced
- 100 g artichoke hearts (from a jar)
- 6 or 7 kalamata olives , cut in half
- 1 heaped tsp of capers
- Parmesan shavings
- A small handful of fresh basil leaves
- Freshly ground black pepper
- A drizzle of olive oil
Instructions
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To make the dough -
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Add the flour, salt and yeast to a large mixing bowl, make a well in the middle and pour in the water and oil, mix it together with a fork.
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When it comes together then start kneading it for about 5 minutes.
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Add a little olive oil to the bowl and swirl it around the bowl. When the dough is in a ball shape return it to the oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling film and then a t-cloth, place the bowl in a warm spot in your kitchen and let the dough rise, about 40 minutes to an hour.
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To make the sauce -
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Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan, add the onion and cook until soft, then add the garlic and cook for a minute or two. Then add the oregano, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Fill the empty can of tomatoes with 100 ml of water, give it a swirl to catch any tomatoes left in the can and add to the pan. Season and simmer gently for about 20 minutes. I blend the sauce when it is cooked for a smoother sauce, but this is up to you.
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When the dough has risen cut it in half, on a floured surface roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin. Depending on how thin you like your base, I like a thin base, roll the dough out to about a 9 inch round.
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Oil a pizza tray or oven tray and place the dough on top. Spread about half the sauce on the dough, add the mozzarella, artichokes, olives and capers, sprinkle a little olive oil over the pizza then place in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes or until the base is cooked.
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When the pizza is cooked a generous amount of parmesan shavings, fresh basil leaves and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately.
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Notes: The dough makes enough for two pizzas, it can be easily frozen, use within one month of freezing.
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The sauce also makes enough for two pizzas, also can be frozen when it has cooled down and use within one month.
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The toppings listed are enough for one pizza but are easily doubled to make two pizzas