tauranga.co.nz/taste/Pumkin Pizza



Helen Jackson - TV3

I love a good pizza but like most things in this life there is a vast gulf between those that are fabulous and those that are just plain awful.
Most packaged pizza bases bear more resemblance to a rubber mattress than they do to anything edible.
Homemade pizza bases however, are generally delicious as well as being economical and honest.
They have jus the right amount of crunch and chewiness and you can make them as thin or as thick as you like.
Toppings are varied and entirely personal, while I try to be fairly open minded I did baulk at a Tokyo version – teriyaki chicken and pizza just don’t seem to go together…..
To get the best flavour from a pizza the ingredients need to be good quality as opposed to a vehicle for the weeks left overs!
Good quality mozzarella and parmesan are expensive, although a little goes a long way. While we in NZ have a propensity to smother our pizza in cheese, if you take notice of Italian recipes or have travelled in Italy you will notice a much lighter hand. Even then I tend to scatter the kids pizza with mainstream mozzarella while the adults get the slices of the fresh!
While the below flavour combination is perhaps stretching it for the purists the flavour combination is delicious and one worth trying.

Pizza Of Roasted Pumpkin With Feta And Olives

1 small - medium butternut pumpkin, peeled and chopped
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup tomato pizza/pasta sauce
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup grated fresh mozzarella
½ cup chopped herbs: sage, parsley, rosemary, oregano
75 g feta, preferably sheeps milk
½ cup black olives
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup rocket leaves
Recipe Tools

Preheat oven to 200 C.
Roast the pumpkin with a good drizzle of olive oil and salt and freshly ground black pepper until tender and golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Increase oven heat to 215 C. Roll the pizza dough out on a lightly floured surface and place either on a well oiled pizza tray or a terracotta tile. Spread the sauce over the base. Sprinkle with the herbs and half of the mozzarella and parmesan. Cover with pumpkin, feta and olives and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the base is golden and crisp.

serves 4.

Pizza dough

3 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons yeast granules
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Recipe Tools

Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and pour into the well along with the salt and olive oil. Form into a ball and knead for 7 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Place the bowl in a warm place and leave for several hours or until dough has doubled in bulk. Alternately you can make dough in your breadmaker by using the dough setting. Halve dough and roll into 2 rounds, cover with desired toppings and bake for 15-20 minutes at 220 C

Pumkin Pizza

03 Oct 08