Mary Berry’s Homemade Pizza with Parma Ham
Learn to make homemade pizza with Mary Berry's easy recipe, as seen on her BBC2 series, Mary Berry Everyday. Finish with parma ham and dollops of soft goat's cheese.
From the book
Mary Berry Everyday
120 simple yet delicious recipes for everyday cooking
All the recipes from the BBC TV series
Classic favourites the whole family will enjoy
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Introduction
There can be nothing nicer than a homemade pizza, and this one is particularly straightforward to make, as the dough for the base only needs to rise once. The caramelised onions add a lovely sweetness to the topping. They are easy to prepare, but if time is short, you could always use caramelised onions from a jar. You’ll need soft goat’s cheese for this recipe – the type that comes in a tub and can be dolloped easily over the top of the pizza.
Ingredients
| 250g (9oz) | strong white flour, plus extra for dusting |
| 1 tsp | fast-action dried yeast (see tip) |
| 1 tbsp | olive oil, plus extra for greasing and drizzling |
| 1 | small garlic clove, crushed |
| ½ tsp | salt |
| 150–175ml (5–6fl oz) | lukewarm water |
| For the topping: | |
| 1 tbsp | olive oil |
| 2 | onions, thinly sliced |
| 1 tbsp | light muscovado sugar |
| 1 tbsp | balsamic vinegar |
| 150ml (5fl oz) | passata |
| 8 slices of | Parma ham |
| 200g (7oz) | soft goat’s cheese |
| salt and freshly ground black pepper | |
| basil leaves, to garnish |
Method
1. To make the dough, measure the flour, yeast and olive oil into a bowl. Add the garlic and salt (on a separate side of the bowl to the yeast), then gradually pour in the warm water (you may not need it all) and stir with a wooden spoon until combined and a soft dough is formed.
2. Tip on to a floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes into a smooth dough. Oil a large clean bowl, sit the dough in the bowl and cover with cling film. Place in a warm place and leave to rise for 1–1½ hours or until doubled in size. If making in a food mixer fitted with a dough hook, this will take about 4 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, caramelise the onions for the topping. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onions and fry over a medium heat for 4–5 minutes until beginning to soften. Cover with a lid and sweat over a low heat for about 15 minutes until soft. Remove the lid, add the sugar and balsamic vinegar, then turn up the heat and stir-fry for 3–4 minutes until golden brown and sticky. Set aside to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/Gas 9 and place a large baking sheet inside to get very hot.
5. Once the dough has doubled in size, tip on to a floured work surface and knead into a round to lightly knock it back. Use your fingers or knuckles to push the dough out into a circle about 30cm (12in) in diameter, slightly thicker at the edges to form the crust of the pizza. Place on a sheet of baking paper spread over a flat baking sheet.
6. Season the passata with salt and pepper and spread on top of the dough. Scatter with the caramelised onions, then scrunch up the Parma ham slices and arrange on top before adding dollops of the goat’s cheese. Slide the baking paper with the assembled pizza on top on to the hot baking sheet and bake for 12–15 minutes or until golden on top and the dough is cooked.
7. Garnish with basil leaves, drizzle with olive oil and serve with dressed salad leaves.
PREPARE AHEAD
The dough can be made with a cold rise in the fridge up to 8 hours ahead; cover very loosely with cling film as it will more than double in size.
The onions can be caramelised up to 2 days ahead.
FREEZE
The risen dough can be frozen up to a month ahead. Make double and freeze half, defrosting before shaping into a circle and adding the topping.
MARY’S EVERYDAY TIP
Instant yeast is a dried rather than fresh form of yeast, giving a quicker rise as it does not need to ferment. It comes in a packet (labelled ‘easy blend’ or ‘quick’ yeast) and will last for a long time in your store cupboard.
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