Last week we returned to the Redwell Centre in Matson to make delicious, veggie-packed pizza – yum! Everyone got stuck in – mixing, rolling, chopping – and most importantly, eating!
Here’s the recipe:
PIZZA BASE INGREDIENTS:
- 2 heaped mugs of strong bread flour
- 1-2 mugs of tepid water
- 1 sachet of dried yeast (usually 7 grams)
- 1 large pinch of sea salt
- A little extra flour for rolling out
- A drizzle of oil to put on the baking tray
PIZZA TOPPING INGREDIENTS:
- Tomato puree
- Half a tin of chopped tomatoes
- A mixture of vegetables chopped into small pieces – any that don’t need to be cooked too much before eating work well, as do soft vegetables that kids love to chop. Such as mushrooms, courgette, spinach leaves, olives, spring onions or red onions, red or yellow peppers, or sweetcorn
- Any other toppings the kids love to make the flavours pop – eg herbs, chillies, garlic, seeds
- Cheese, plant-based alternative, or cashew-based vegan cheese sauce (optional)
METHOD:
- MIX together the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl
- POUR the water in a little at a time. Add it really slowly; you can always add more!
- MIX until all the flour and water are mixed in. If there’s still some flour round the edges of the bowl add a teeny bit more water. Be careful not to add too much or the dough will be really sticky
- KNEAD the dough. FOLD, SLAP, POKE, SQUIDGE and SQUISH for at least five minutes – the longer the better! POKE with a clean finger and if it springs back then that’s a good sign that it’s done
- COVER with a cloth (or towel) and leave somewhere warm until it’s doubled in size (or longer if you don’t need to use it yet)
- While you are waiting, SNIP, CUT, and TEAR your vegetables for your toppings. Use kids scissors for the snipping, a table knife or similar for cutting soft vegetables, and mini hands for ripping leaves and herbs. Kids can do almost all of this
- Heat your oven to 220 degrees, ready to cook your pizzas
- Take the dough out and SQUASH, BASH and FLICK it to get the air out
- PULL the dough into balls about the size of tennis balls
- ROLL each ball flat with a rolling pin and PUT on a greased baking tray
- SQUIRT a large blob of tomato puree onto your base and SPREAD it over the middle with the base of a spoon (leaving a border for your pizza crust)
- ADD the chopped tomatoes, spreading in the same way
- PUT your choice of toppings on the tomato sauce
- COOK in the hot oven for 15 mins until brown and sizzling.
For more low-cost and nutritious recipes, check out the Kids Kitchen Facebook page.
We’re looking forward to our next session at The Redwell Centre on Thursday 12th June, when we’ll be making scrummy Stuffed Peppers together. Save your spot here.