I discovered the Smitten Kitchen blog fairly recently and although I haven’t yet had a chance to explore the archives I’ve been really enjoying her posts. Partly because everything just looks so delicious but mostly since it seems to spark ideas of things to do in my own kitchen.
This post on pizza making, particularly the link to making pizza under the grill (broiler) on a heated cast iron pan got me thinking about how I’ve never tried making real pizza, sorry mum but your wholesome style of pizza while delicious doesn’t count as ‘real pizza’, mostly because I knew the results would only be disappointing.
A few days after making these cupcakes , I still had the leftover lassi (for those that asked about this I hope the photo helps – it’s the salty kind) sitting in the fridge and since it smelt pretty tangy and was past the
‘consume within 2 days’ on the label I figured the best idea would be to bake something with it.
I’ve been making very simple naan style yoghurt flat breads pretty regularly for a while. They’re great to have in the freezer since you can defrost them almost instantly in the toaster. This seems to work with any unflavoured yoghurt and although I once started this from a recipe it’s not really something you need one for. To make the dough all you do is mix together some plain white flour, a couple of teaspoons of b. soda and enough yoghurt to make a dough and knead it for a few minutes until smooth and elastic.
Then you can roll it into flat breads, I make them small and round so they fit in the toaster and cook them under a hot grill.
They don’t take long to cook at all, so pay attention to them and turn them when just puffed up and golden. If you get distracted and check your email they burn.
This worked perfectly with the leftover lassi, but it was close to dinnertime and I was still thinking about smitten’s pizzas. Rolled and stretched some dough out into a bigger round and loading it with some toppings. The crust was wonderful, but the centre stayed a bit soggy and floppy.
Pizza + hot cast iron + hot grill sounded like a combination that should probably be tested out for the first time with someone else in the house. So a few days later Hannah came round for dinner and I roped her into helping maneuver everything. Luckily no-one ended up in a+e (er) with a crushed, burnt foot and the whole thing turned out to be pretty simple. The results were fantastic. The base was crunchy and nicely charred on the bottom and still soft and puffy inside. Our dinner conversation was rather hilarious because it consisted almost entirely of:
‘this is so good’
‘I can’t believe we made this’
‘it’s real pizza’
and repeat
The yoghurt based dough is pretty indistinguishable from a classic yeasted one and has some pretty major advantages (other than being a way to use up rather tangy yoghurt). Because there’s no waiting around for the dough to rise this takes less time to make from scratch than a traditional pizza. You could easily get home from work and have it on the table 20-30 minutes later. Then sometime in the next few days you can make it again (and again, I did get a little obsessed) even faster, because unlike a yeasted dough this keeps in the fridge for several days (mine was still perfectly good after 4 days). We spent Thursday afternoon taking the Leisl photos and I had to get home, eat, pick some stuff up and be back out at K1 for knit night before 6. Well we got back at 5.10 and managed to make and eat this and be out of the house by 5.30 That’s pretty fast food.
Now I’m thinking of trying to make ricotta ish cheese from goats milk, or sheeps would be good but where to buy the milk? Maybe the dairy that sells sheep and goats milk at the farmers market would sell some milk, hmm… Goats milk is at least available in the supermarkets. I made cheese once, when I was about ten. It was fun and a little magical, but very messy and being nagged to clean up after myself kind of put me off.
Right now though, something sweet. There’s apple and raspberry crumble that probably needs to come out of the oven.
Note: grill in the UK = broiler in the US and grill in the US = barbecue in the UK
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks brilliant! I make “real” pizza every week – but this is so quick and sounds so good I’ll have to try it. And the flatbreads could be cooked directly on the hot plate of the Aga. Thanks, Ysolda!
The Naan sounds wonderfully easy. Where do you grill it? On a outdoor grill? Can you bake it in a regular oven or toaster oven on bake?
I *knew* it! As soon as I saw the pizza pic, I knew you were going to talk about Smitten Kitchen.
Here in Portland, OR, we’re having gorgeous summery weather (perfect for the summer solstice weekend), so I’m having a pizza party of my own this evening: these will be grilled — outside over hot coals!
There is nothing like a good, homemade pizza. In our house, we do a traditional yeast dough. I had no idea you could do a yogurt dough–or that it was so easy!
I already made “real pizza” and it just delicious!!
That looks delicious! I am usually a shop bought pizza kinda girl but, that really appeals I am off to get the ingredients!
What a great idea to make yeast dough! The biggest reason I don’t make pizza more often is I’m too hungry to wait for the dough to rise. Thanks!
Wow! Your pizza looks really great. I’ll have to try that yogurt dough!
I have been a bit pizza obsessed lately as well. I have enough dough in the freezer for another pizza. I think my obsession arose from the same source as yours. I found the crust I am using on her blog and haven’t gone back.
I am so adding homemade pizza to my weekly repertoire, thanks to you! You are a terrific cook!
Your dough has just revolutionized my pizza-making. I’m not sure whether to thank you or curse you, since I’ll be having it so much more often now!
What quantity of flour do you use Ysolda?, I’m guessing about 250g? I have conducted many pizza experiments, favoured technique at the mo’ is to put baking tray on the lit hob and spin slowly for a while to get a crusty bottom on pizza before quickly putting in V. hot oven! I also have a heavy cast aluminium Girdle which is very good for pizzas using the technique you mentioned too ( and unsurpassed for pancakes etc.), the handle gets in the way a bit though.
Awesome! I’ll have to try this. I usually use a yeasted dough. (FYI–yeasted dough should keep perfectly well in the fridge for at least a week. There’s a whole book written around using this technique. Just put it in there before it has risen.)
Maybe I’ll do this soon. Do you think regular (non-drinking) yogurt would work?
Yum! What a great recipe to try out—-right now, as I’m contemplating dinner and have some yogurt, too (I make my own yogurt, which is fun, as well)…. Thanks for this idea!
Yum yum!
I watched this series http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/indianfood_index.shtml and bought her book, there was a good receipe for naan but also a recipe for paneer (Indian Cheese) I’ve used it quite a few times – I even managed to get buffalo milk at my local Waitrose and made some buffalo cheese – delicious. It’s really easy and not to much clearing up!
Do we have Mums from the same mould? wholemeal pizza (not my thing) and getting told of for making a mess in the kitchen – sounds very familiar!
The yogurt naan breads are ace. So easy to make and so delicious. Thank you for sharing.
when you say grill, do you mean you leave the oven door slightly open? i have an electric double oven, the grill is usually used by setting the top oven to the grill setting and setting the grill temperature on a separate dial? i’d like to try the naan!
the pizza looks great, too, how long do you cook it in the skillet, and how long under the grill? and do you cook it under the grill without the toppings first? (there’s a jamie oliver recipe where you part bake the base first, then add toppings and finish it in the oven, or you part bake, let cool and freeze, then you can put toppings on when you take them out of the freezer at a later stage, and bake them straight from frozen.
we’re expecting our first baby in november and i have a feeling it might be a good idea to have lots of healthy food that’s quick to prepare in the freezer!
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. We made them tonight, and they were delicious. We added 2 pinches of salt to the dough. We did them on the barbecue, so in case anyone was wondering if that works, it does very nicely.
Thanks again! Let us know how your cheese-making goes .
I have made yogurt and soft cheese at home for years. Now I use the the lakeland electric yogurt maker http://www.lakeland.co.uk/electric-yoghurt-maker/F/keyword/yogurt+maker/product/3440_3441
and you can get a good soft cheese by tipping the cooled, made yoghurt into a fine mesh sieve, and letting it drip though where you end up with a “lump” of soft cheese in the sieve and liquid which you can use in cooking. The cheese is very much like quark or ricotta. You just need to wash the sieve well and, if you want to, use soft muslin that you can boil to line the sieve.