Bocconcini, garden herb, rocket and red onion pizza

We love the whole gamut of pizza qualities! Making the dough is great fun (and very therapeutic…!) and we love using our big muscles to roll out the bases… We wash and spin and chop our herbs, and simmer up our own garlicky tomato sauce – with fresh tomatoes in summer and tinned toms out of season – and compile our toppings based on what’s growing…  this week it’s loads of sweet onion, marjoram, rocket and curly parsley… We grate and tear and zest, and we LOVE the smell as the pizza bakes… But most of all, we adore devouring the pizza. Mmmmm.

Fresh from the garden: rocket, red & brown onions, thyme, marjoram, parsley
Recipe source: Melissa, kitchen specialist at Bondi PS

What to do:
To make the dough:

• Place the water, yeast and sugar in the small bowl. Mix with the fork and leave for 5–10 minutes until the mixture looks frothy.
• Add the 2 teaspoons of oil to the yeast mixture and mix well.
• Place the flour and salt and yeast mixture in the bowl of the electric mixer and beat for at least 8 minutes, until the dough looks smooth.
• Brush the inside of a large bowl with a little of the extra virgin olive oil, using the pastry brush.
• Turn the pizza dough into the oiled bowl. Cover with a clean, dry tea towel and put in a draught-free place until the dough has doubled in size. This process, which is called ‘proving’, will take at least 1 hour.
• After an hour, tip the risen dough onto the workbench and knead briefly, then shape it into a round ball and return it to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the tea towel and leave again, this time for at least 20 minutes.                                                                                 

What to do:

Start of lesson:

• Preheat the oven to maximum. You can prepare the topping now while you wait for the oven to heat up.
• Scatter some flour on the workbench, divide the pizza dough in two and roll to form two thin rectangles to fit the baking trays.
• Assemble the pizzas directly onto the trays, flouring the trays a little first.

For the tomato sauce:

• Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic.
• Heat the olive oil in the frying pan & gently cook the onion and garlic until translucent but not brown.
• Open the tin of tomato and add to the frying pan with a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.
• Simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until quite reduced.

For the topping: 

• Peel the red onion, cut in half and finely slice into rings
• Wash and carefully dry the herb sprigs – pick the leaves, discarding the stalks. Finely chop all the herbs.
• Wash the rocket and spin it dry. Leaving small leaves whole, chop large leaves into ribbons.
• Peel the onion, cut in half and finely slice into rings.
• Open the tub of bocconcini and cut or tear each ball into 3 or 4 pieces.
• Grate the parmesan.

Assembling the pizza:

• Using a metal spoon, swirl a couple of spoonfuls of tomato sauce onto the pizza bases, spreading so that they become totally covered.
• Layer the onion slices on top and then lay on the bocconcini. Season well.
• Drizzle the pizzas with the last of the oil, then slide them into the oven.

Baking the pizza:

• Bake the pizzas for 12 minutes or until the edges are very crusty and the cheese is bubbling.
• At this stage you can make the dough for the next class.
• Once the pizzas are done, transfer them to a board using the wide egg lifter. Cut the pizzas crossways into small squares, and lift onto serving plates.
• Sprinkle with the herbs and the grated parmesan and finish with the rocket.
• Serve and eat!

Notes: What other sort of vegetables could you use in a pizza? What sort of other pizza could we make?