Pizza ai funghi e rucola

Why did the mushroom go to the party? ‘Cos he was a fun-gi to be with… boom tish! And this one has some peppery rocket sprinkled over, yum yum…

Fresh from the garden: mushrooms, rocket, onion, garlic, marjoram
Recipe source: Melissa
Serves: 8 at home or 24 tastes

What to do:

• Preheat the oven to 220C.

For the tomato sauce:

• Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic, reserving half of the garlic for the topping.
• 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.
• Wash, dry and pick the herbs. Roughly chop then add to the tomatoes.
• Simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until quite reduced.

For the topping: 

• Wipe the mushrooms free of dirt using a piece of paper towel and finely slice. Drop them in to a big bowl, drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of olive oil and toss to combine.
• Open the tub of bocconcini and cut each ball into 3 or 4 slices.
• Wash and spin the rocket dry and then reserve in another large bowl.
• Grate the parmesan and add it to the rocket with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. Gently toss to combine.

Assembling the pizza:

• Scatter some flour on the workbench, divide the dough in two and roll to form two thin shapes about 26 cm in diameter.
• Assemble the pizzas directly onto the trays, flouring the trays first.
• Usingthe metal spoon, swirl a couple of spoonfuls of tomato sauce onto the pizza bases, spreading so that they become totally covered with a clean border.
• Layer the bocconcini on top, spoon on the garlicky mushrooms, then slide the pizzas into the oven.
• Wash and dry the wooden chopping boards and set them out ready.

Baking the pizza:

• Bake the pizzas for 12 minutes or until the edges are very crusty and the cheese is bubbling.
• Use this time to make the dough for the next class if needed.
• You may want to slip the pizza off the tray onto the rack for the last few minutes, so that you get a really crusty base.
• Once the pizzas are done, transfer them to the wooden boards using the wide egg lifter.
• Cut the pizzas in half first, and then each half into squares for each plate.
• Lift onto serving plates and sprinkle with the rocket and parmesan.
• Eat! 

Notes: Where does pizza come from? What other sort of vegetables could you use in a pizza? What sort of other pizza could we make? What other cheeses could we use?