Can’t beat a good pizza. They’re super fast to make and super fast to eat! The dough contains:

• 250g strong bread four
• 1 packet dried yeast
• pinch of salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 150ml tepid water

Make a soft dough and knead on a floured surface for 10-15 minutes until nice and smooth. Prove for 20 minutes and then roll out onto a polenta covered surface. The polenta prevents the dough from sticking to the worktop (really important, I’ve made many a boob doing this – if you do mess up though, just roll up your pizza and pretend you meant to make a calzone all along). The beauty of pizza is you can make it your own. I used some cooked off spinach, anchovies, taleggio and a runny egg (idea stolen from Angela Hartnett – what a wonderful woman she is!). I keep my baked tray (also covered in polenta) in a very hot oven (220°C) and then place the pizza on, crack the egg in the centre and place in the oven. The pizza takes ~4-6 minutes to cook depending on how good your oven is. If you can rescue your pizza before the yolk cooks through then you’re winning!

Other topping combinations I’ve tried include:

• pancetta
• asparagus tips
• mozzarella
• a drizzle of garlic infused olive oil

AND

• salmon
• spinach
• mozzarella
• tomatoes cooked down with a bit of sugar and garlic

But there’s so much more to discover. I try not to make pizza too often to prevent the likelihood of turning into a blue whale overnight. It’s definitely a treat and goes very well with a good big glass of Chianti. Buon appetito!