Toby Atkin-Wright

Since I got my Kenwood Chef last year, I've been having fun making bread. A favourite weekend treat is home-made pizza; this is my recipe to make two 12" pizzas.

I make no claims for the authenticity or quality of this recipe, but it makes pizza the way that Beth and I like to eat it.

Pizza base

300ml warm water
1tsp dried yeast
1tsp sugar
500g strong white bread flour
1tsp salt
100g white fat

1. Mix 200ml of cold tap water with 100ml of boiling water in the Kenwood bowl. Add one teaspoon of dried yeast, and one teaspoon of sugar, and stir. Cover and leave for 20 mins; it will start foaming.
2. Add 500g of strong white bread flour, one teaspoon of salt, and 100g of white fat. Using the dough hook, mix on minimum until the dry ingredients are combined with the liquid, then knead on Kenwood speed two for 5 mins.
3. Remove the bowl, loosely cover, and leave for an hour or two in a warm place. The dough should double in size.
4. Return to the Kenwood, and knead on speed two for a further 5 mins.
5. Split the dough into two balls. Sprinkle flour on a board, then roll each ball out to be a 12" pizza base, and place on trays for baking.
6. Add toppings to taste, then bake in a hot oven. My oven runs at a claimed 275 degrees C, and the pizzas take around 10 mins.

Pizza sauce

1 tin chopped tomatoes
large knob of butter
dash of olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 onion

1. Add the tomatoes, butter, olive oil, and half a teaspoon of salt to a saucepan.
2. Peel and half the onion; add to the pan. Be careful not to disturb the onion; it should remain in two halves. Simmer the sauce in the open pan on a low heat for an hour.
3. Remove the onion and discard it.
4. If the sauce isn't thick enough, raise the heat and reduce the sauce, stirring to prevent sticking.

Pizza cheese

2x 125g mozzarella balls

1. Remove from bags, and drain away the liquid.
2. Slice, remove any liquid, and place the slices on the pizzas. The cheese will melt and spread across the pizzas as they cook.

Notes

• I tend to use Allinson's Premium White Very Strong Bread Flour, which has given consistently good results, but any white or wholemeal bread flour will do.
• I buy tins of Allinson's Dried Active Yeast. If you use fresh yeast or sachets of instant yeast, you may need to modify the recipe accordingly.
• I usually bake with Trex vegetable fat. I find it gives a better texture to the bread than if I use olive oil, and butter can make the bread taste too rich.
• Seasoning, spices, and herbs can be added to the bread or to the sauce. For example, I sometimes add black pepper, oregano, and tomato puree to the bread mix, and sometimes garlic, herbs, and black pepper to the sauce. Try adding a few fresh basil leaves after removing the pizza from the oven.
• I bake my pizzas on pizza trays that have holes in the base; this helps the bread to crisp, while giving structure that allows me to make a thin-crust pizza.

Since I got my Kenwood Chef last year, I've been having fun making bread. A favourite weekend treat is home-made pizza; this is my recipe to make two 12" pizzas.

I make no claims for the authenticity or quality of this recipe, but it makes pizza the way that Beth and I like to eat it.

Pizza base

300ml warm water
1tsp dried yeast
1tsp sugar
500g strong white bread flour
1tsp salt
100g white fat

1. Mix 200ml of cold tap water with 100ml of boiling water in the Kenwood bowl. Add one teaspoon of dried yeast, and one teaspoon of sugar, and stir. Cover and leave for 20 mins; it will start foaming.
2. Add 500g of strong white bread flour, one teaspoon of salt, and 100g of white fat. Using the dough hook, mix on minimum until the dry ingredients are combined with the liquid, then knead on Kenwood speed two for 5 mins.
3. Remove the bowl, loosely cover, and leave for an hour or two in a warm place. The dough should double in size.
4. Return to the Kenwood, and knead on speed two for a further 5 mins.
5. Split the dough into two balls. Sprinkle flour on a board, then roll each ball out to be a 12" pizza base, and place on trays for baking.
6. Add toppings to taste, then bake in a hot oven. My oven runs at a claimed 275 degrees C, and the pizzas take around 10 mins.

Pizza sauce

1 tin chopped tomatoes
large knob of butter
dash of olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 onion

1. Add the tomatoes, butter, olive oil, and half a teaspoon of salt to a saucepan.
2. Peel and half the onion; add to the pan. Be careful not to disturb the onion; it should remain in two halves. Simmer the sauce in the open pan on a low heat for an hour.
3. Remove the onion and discard it.
4. If the sauce isn't thick enough, raise the heat and reduce the sauce, stirring to prevent sticking.

Pizza cheese

2x 125g mozzarella balls

1. Remove from bags, and drain away the liquid.
2. Slice, remove any liquid, and place the slices on the pizzas. The cheese will melt and spread across the pizzas as they cook.

Notes

• I tend to use Allinson's Premium White Very Strong Bread Flour, which has given consistently good results, but any white or wholemeal bread flour will do.
• I buy tins of Allinson's Dried Active Yeast. If you use fresh yeast or sachets of instant yeast, you may need to modify the recipe accordingly.
• I usually bake with Trex vegetable fat. I find it gives a better texture to the bread than if I use olive oil, and butter can make the bread taste too rich.
• Seasoning, spices, and herbs can be added to the bread or to the sauce. For example, I sometimes add black pepper, oregano, and tomato puree to the bread mix, and sometimes garlic, herbs, and black pepper to the sauce. Try adding a few fresh basil leaves after removing the pizza from the oven.
• I bake my pizzas on pizza trays that have holes in the base; this helps the bread to crisp, while giving structure that allows me to make a thin-crust pizza.

Back in the mid-90s when I was sharing the flat in Greenside Court with qidane, I bought a copy of “The Constance Spry Cookery Book” (first published 1956) from the bargain bookshop that used to be halfway along Church Street (where “Pots and Pans” is now). With over 1,000 pages, it is a useful resource for traditional recipes and practical advice, as well as variations that reflect its origin in the era of rationing.

One recipe that I’ve long intended to try is “Condensed Milk Dressing”, which sits in her pages of uncooked salad dressings between “Beetroot Dressing (Rich)” and “Cream Dressing (Thick)”. This evening I made it, to go with a mixed salad that Andrew prepared of lettuce, tomato, sweetcorn, red pepper, celery, and grated carrot.

kateaw looked at the dressing (knowing what had gone into it) and said “I’m scared!” then tasted it and said “Yummy!”.

Ingredients

3–4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
half teaspoon of salt
fresh black pepper
1 dessertspoon salad oil
1 good teaspoon made mustard
5 tablespoons French wine vinegar
chopped herbs to taste

Instructions

Add salt and pepper to condensed milk, mix well. Stir in mustard and oil and beat. Finally add vinegar and chopped herbs.

Back in the mid-90s when I was sharing the flat in Greenside Court with qidane, I bought a copy of “The Constance Spry Cookery Book” (first published 1956) from the bargain bookshop that used to be halfway along Church Street (where “Pots and Pans” is now). With over 1,000 pages, it is a useful resource for traditional recipes and practical advice, as well as variations that reflect its origin in the era of rationing.

One recipe that I’ve long intended to try is “Condensed Milk Dressing”, which sits in her pages of uncooked salad dressings between “Beetroot Dressing (Rich)” and “Cream Dressing (Thick)”. This evening I made it, to go with a mixed salad that Andrew prepared of lettuce, tomato, sweetcorn, red pepper, celery, and grated carrot.

kateaw looked at the dressing (knowing what had gone into it) and said “I’m scared!” then tasted it and said “Yummy!”.

Ingredients

3–4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
half teaspoon of salt
fresh black pepper
1 dessertspoon salad oil
1 good teaspoon made mustard
5 tablespoons French wine vinegar
chopped herbs to taste

Instructions

Add salt and pepper to condensed milk, mix well. Stir in mustard and oil and beat. Finally add vinegar and chopped herbs.

For our dinner party on 31 December we had an American theme to the menu; the pudding was Key Lime Pie. Having heard about it, and seen it on television programmes, I was keen to cook one (particularly as it includes my favourite ingredient, condensed milk). So I had a search online for recipes.

Key Lime Pie originated in Florida in the 1800s. Before refrigeration, fresh milk was difficult to store in a warm state, so condensed milk became particularly popular. Originally made with a pastry base, many of the recipes I found called for a “Graham Cracker” base, for which I assumed I could substitute digestive biscuits. The pie filling is traditionally made with key limes, a smaller, tangier type of lime found in Florida. As they are not commonly available in St Andrews, I plumped for regular limes. The pie is sometimes served with a meringue topping, rather like lemon meringue pie, but I chose not to go in that direction.

I made the pie in individual ramekins; the instructions below made eight. I cooked them for twelve minutes, which left them with a dry, cheesecake-style texture, which was pleasant, but I guess seriously overcooked. Next time I’ll try cooking them for eight minutes if I do it in ramekins again. I guess making a single larger pie would require a longer cooking time than the ramekins.

Ingredients

1 tin of condensed milk
250ml lime juice
zest of 2 limes
5 egg yolks
digestive biscuits for base
butter for base
cream for whipping

Instructions

Make a pie base from crushed digestives and melted butter, and put it in the pie tin.

Blend the condensed milk with the egg yolks.

Add the lime juice and zest to the mixture, and blend.

Put the mixture on top of the pie base, and bake at 180C until ready (perhaps 8 to 10 minutes). Chill before serving with whipped cream.

For our dinner party on 31 December we had an American theme to the menu; the pudding was Key Lime Pie. Having heard about it, and seen it on television programmes, I was keen to cook one (particularly as it includes my favourite ingredient, condensed milk). So I had a search online for recipes.

Key Lime Pie originated in Florida in the 1800s. Before refrigeration, fresh milk was difficult to store in a warm state, so condensed milk became particularly popular. Originally made with a pastry base, many of the recipes I found called for a “Graham Cracker” base, for which I assumed I could substitute digestive biscuits. The pie filling is traditionally made with key limes, a smaller, tangier type of lime found in Florida. As they are not commonly available in St Andrews, I plumped for regular limes. The pie is sometimes served with a meringue topping, rather like lemon meringue pie, but I chose not to go in that direction.

I made the pie in individual ramekins; the instructions below made eight. I cooked them for twelve minutes, which left them with a dry, cheesecake-style texture, which was pleasant, but I guess seriously overcooked. Next time I’ll try cooking them for eight minutes if I do it in ramekins again. I guess making a single larger pie would require a longer cooking time than the ramekins.

Ingredients

1 tin of condensed milk
250ml lime juice
zest of 2 limes
5 egg yolks
digestive biscuits for base
butter for base
cream for whipping

Instructions

Make a pie base from crushed digestives and melted butter, and put it in the pie tin.

Blend the condensed milk with the egg yolks.

Add the lime juice and zest to the mixture, and blend.

Put the mixture on top of the pie base, and bake at 180C until ready (perhaps 8 to 10 minutes). Chill before serving with whipped cream.