Growlingbelly

Lottie and Wayne decided to throw a Friday night 5 year anniversary party to celebrate their loving marriage. All together….”Awwww Mazeltov!” Of course we all popped around, to share the love, knowing the vino would be flowing and accompanied by some kind of surprise divine creation. And we were not dissappointed! These pizzas on a brioche base were like nothing I ever tasted…

‘Thank you to Ottolenghi for my introduction to bread making and this wonderful pizza made on a light and buttery, brioche base.’

BRIOCHE
Makes 6 pizzas

2 tablespoons lukewarm water (not more than 30°)
1tsp active dried yeast
190g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
½ teaspoon salt
20g caster sugar
2 medium free-range eggs (at room temperature) plus 1 egg beaten to glaze the pizzas
75g cold unsalted butter, diced

Mix the water and yeast together in the bowl of an electric mixer and leave for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate. Stir gently with your finger to dissolve all the yeast. Add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the butter, and mix together with a spatula until the flour is incorporated.

Attach the bowl to the mixer and work on a low speed for 3 minutes. The dough should become smooth but will stick to the bowl. Once it has reached this stage scrape it off the sides of the bowl, increase the speed of the machine to medium-high and start adding the diced butter. Do this gradually, making sure each piece of butter is more or less incorporated into the dough before adding more. Once all the butter is in keep the machine working until the dough is shiny, has no lumps of butter and comes away naturally from the sides of the bowl. This will take about 9 minutes, the dough will be lukewarm, make sure it doesn’t get too hot. Once or twice during the mixing process, you might need to stop the machine and scrape the bowl clean.

Remove the dough from the mixer and place in a lightly greased bowl that is twice as large as the dough. Cover with cling film and leave at room temperature for 1 hour to rise. Then place in a fridge for 14-24 hours before using.

TOPPING
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
75g feta cheese, crumbled
40g kalamata olives, pitted
olive oil for drizzling
salami slices
sun dried tomatoes
coarse sea salt and black pepper
basil leaves

CARAMELISED ONION
1 onion – thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 garlic clove, crushed

Put the brioche dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to a sheet about 1cm thick. Using a pastry cutter, cut out 6 circles, 9-10cm in diameter. Place on a non-stick baking tray and leave to rise for 1-2 hours, depending on how warm the kitchen is. The brioche discs should double in height.

While the brioche is rising, prepare the toppings. Cut the tomatoes into quarters lengthways.

For the caramelised onion, put the onion, oil, sugar and salt in a large pan and cook for 7 minutes over a high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden. Remove from the heat and stir in the crushed garlic. Leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 170C. To assemble the brioche pizzas, brush the risen dough discs with a little beaten egg and place a generous amount of the caramelised onion in the centre. Top with lots of tomatoes, basil, feta, salami and olives. Remember, the size of the dough will increase in the oven, so be generous! Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Check the bottoms of the pastries to make sure they are thoroughly cooked.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Lightly brush with more olive oil and serve.

Recipe adapted from Ottolenghi