Mandy Says: Beetroot, Pesto and Feta Pizza

We eat loads of home made pizza at our place. It’s quick, easy, can be topped with almost anything in the fridge or pantry and is guaranteed to one of the few family meals that makes everyone happy. Yep, that includes Mr 7 yrs, who generally refuses to eat anything anyone else requests. Or anything new. Or anything that looks remotely healthy or interesting. I made this one for my own Mum on Mother’s Day and it was a definite win.

Except for Mr 7. He had an egg and bacon pizza instead.

WHAT YOU NEED:

BASE

250ml tepid water

2tbs olive oil

1tsp salt

2tsp sugar

450g (or 3 cups) of plain flour. Or wholemeal flour. Or you can use specialty bread flour – I never do.

3tbs dried yeast. I use the Tandaco brand and store it in the fridge.

TOPPING

Basil pesto

Grated Mozzarella cheese. Use high quality. Your taste buds will thank you for it.

Feta cheese. I prefer Persian feta to anything else, especially on pizza. Persian feta is softer, silkier and doesn’t dry out in the oven.

Cherry tomatoes

A red onion

Roast beetroot cut into bit-sized pieces. While I do love home-grown beets, for this kind of recipe I always buy the pre-cooked, pre-peeled stuff from the deli or veggie section of the supermarket. Saves on time, mess and stained fingers. Never the canned stuff. Eww.

Fresh flat-leaf parsley

Balsamic glaze. Thicker (and generally cheaper) than balsamic vinegar, this glaze is one of my pantry must-haves. It’s also great on all sorts of salads as well as strawberries!

HOW IT’S DONE:

Well, for the dough, I cheat and use my bread maker on the dough setting. In fact, it’s pretty much all I use the bread maker for. Just add the listed ingredients in the order above (wet to dry), press the button and that’s it. If you don’t have a bread maker, just add the ingredients to a large bowl in reverse order. Mix well with your hands until it forms a dough and knead for ten minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a (larger) bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towell. Place in a warm position for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.

We find one batch makes 4 smallish pizzas, depending how thick or thin you like your base. We like ours on the thin side. I generally make two batches for our pizza-loving family of five, which does require a little forward planning to account for time. Just divide up your dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to size. Easy.

Pre-heat oven to at least 250 C. If your oven gets hotter – lucky you! We often cook our pizzas in the BBQ with the lid closed for this reason.

For the toppings, use the pesto as your sauce rather than tomato paste. Top with beetroot, sliced cherry tomatoes, sliced onion and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese (mostly just to hold it together). Cook until the cheese has begun to melt, and the base is no longer doughy. Add broken-up feta and cook for a further five minutes, or until the mozzarella is bubbling. Remove from the oven or BBQ, sprinkle with chopped parsley and a swirl of balsamic glaze. There you have it – healthy vegetarian pizza that looks great too.