This pizza dough recipe is incredibly simple and only requires one prove before its ready to use. This recipe is topped with tomato, mozzarella, prosciutto, parmesan and rocket but you can top with whatever you like!
Start by making the pizza dough. Place the flour into a large bowl and sprinkle in the Maldon salt, mixing well. Then make a well in the middle of the flour. In a jug mix together the warm water, yeast, sugar and olive oil and whisk it together. Let this sit for 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes pour the mixture into the well in the flour. Use a wooden spoon to slowly incorporate the flour into the wet mixture. When it starts to come together then use your hands to bring the dough together. Tip it onto a clean work surface and knead the dough to help bring it together. Then continue to knead for 10 minutes until you have a smooth, supple dough.
Lightly grease a large bowl and then place the dough into the bowl and cover with clingfilm. Place the bowl in a warm place and allow it to prove for 1 hour until it doubles in size.
Preheat the oven to 220C and place either a pizza stone (if you have!) or a large baking sheet into the oven so it warms up.
While the dough is proving, mix up the tomato base for the pizzas. In a small bowl mix together the passata, grated garlic, dried oregano and plenty of Maldon salt and cracked black pepper. Set aside.
After an hour the dough should have doubled in size. Then remove the clingfilm and knock back the dough by punching out the air from dough and giving it a quick knead. Then divide the dough into 4 equal balls.
On a piece of baking parchment sprinkle generously with semolina before rolling out one of the pizza balls to roughly 25cm in diameter, leaving a slightly thicker ring around the edge for the crust. Then spoon on some of the passata mix and spread out a thin, even layer on the base but leaving a gap for the crust. Top with some torn mozzarella and prosciutto. Then slide the pizza onto the hot tray in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.
The pizza is ready when the crust has puffed up and gone golden brown, and the mozzarella has melted and gone oozy. Remove the pizza from the oven and top with chilli flakes, parmesan shavings and fresh rocket. Finally drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil and a final pinch of Maldon salt and cracked black pepper. Cut the pizza up and enjoy.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Lightly grease 2 ovenproof dishes with a little butter.
Place your streaky bacon into the prepared dishes, crack a couple of eggs on top and and place your cherry tomatoes in one corner.
Season with salt and pepper.
Place in the hot oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny, then serve straight away.
Celebrate the festive season with the ultimate Christmas cheese board, ideal for sharing with friends and family at this time of year. Treat your loved ones to a large cheese board brimming with artisan cheese, creamy delights, cold meats. Let the Christmas cheese selection take centre stage, and delight every cheese lover in your life with the perfect Christmas sharing platter!
What do you put on a Christmas cheese board?
Go all out for the perfect Christmas cheese board this year with an impressive range of creamy holiday cheeses, dried fruits and nuts, a selection of meats, pickles and chutneys.
Paxton & Whitfield, London cheesemongers since 1797, advice that a balance of cheese is required for the perfect grazing board. Three to four cheeses is usually enough when creating a cheese board. You should go for a selection of both soft, semi-soft, semi-firm and firm.
Soft Cheeses:
Brie, Camembert , feta, ricotta, Chevre and gorgonzola.
Semi-Soft Cheeses:
Fontina, muenster and Gouda.
Semi-firm Cheeses:
Manchego, Gruyere and Comte
Firm Cheeses:
Aged cheddar, white cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
As a rule of thumb, you should allow 80-100g of cheese per person for your cheese board.
Once you have chosen your selection of cheeses, you can then look at which cold meats you would like to include for your festive board.
What meats and cheeses go together?
Cheddar cheese with chorizo
Swiss cheese and prosciutto
Chevre and pepperoni
Chorizo and Manchego
Parmesan and prosciutto
Gouda and Salami
Pepper Jack Cheese with capicola
What fruit and nuts go well on a cheeseboard?
When choosing the fruits for your festive cheeseboard, we recommend always using seasonal fruits to brighten up the board. You can use citruses like orange and clementines, apples and pomegranates. All bring a delightfully sweet flavour to the board to provide the perfect balance.
If you are wanting to include dried fruits to your board, try adding dried apricots, dried pineapple rings, dates and raisins. Dried fruits are all naturally very sweet to begin with, but the fruit flavour is elevated further due to the addition of refined sugar and oil coating the fruit.
The final pairing of nuts goes hand in hand with the cheese. Recommended nuts for a cheeseboard include: walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews and pistachios (ideally de-shelled to avoid making a mess with your guests!).
Best cheeseboard crackers
Morrisons offers a delicious Cracker Selection Box, where six varieties have been included to perfectly compliment your favourite, festive cheeses:
Beetroot & Seed Cracker – A the perfect partner for a soft cheese like Brie.
Cracked Pepper Water Cracker – Ideal for a crumbly Cheddar Cheese
Rosemary Cracker – Suited best for Stilton
Sea Salt & Chive Cracker – Perfect for a creamy, mature Cheddar
Stone Ground Wheat Cracker – Paired for Wensleydale and cranberries
Sweet Wheat Cracker – Iconic with a white Stilton
How to make a Christmas cheese board:
Get your wooden board ready. A standard size is between 8-20 inches in length. You could opt for a star shaped, tree shaped, or a simple, classic cheese board.
Place your selection of cheeses first on the board. Soft cheeses, like brief, can be served as it is. For hard cheeses, like cheddar and parmesan, we recommend cutting them into slices or cubes. This makes it easier for your guests to grab a piece without having to cut the hard cheese themselves – which can be time-consuming and messy! Provide a cheese knife or spreader with each cheese. Add a pinch of Maldon Salt over the cheeses to elevate the natural sweetness and nuttiness.
Add your sliced/rolled meats, separating them with your pots of chutneys and dips. You can provide a spoon or butter knife with these if you wish.
Next the crackers! Fan out your crackers or crostini along the edges of the cheeseboard to make them easy to grab for your guests.
With the remaining spaces on the board, you want to place the mixture of fruits, olives and nuts.
Once completed, let the cheeseboard rest for at least an hour to allow the cheeses and meats to adjust to room temperature.
Your Christmas cheese board is now ready to be relished – enjoy!
Why salt is important for cheese?
According to Cheese Science, salt is essential for major functions in cheese:
Regulates microbial growth. When salt is added to cheese, it can control the growth of microbes. This process can allow more salt-tolerant microbes to grow.
Altering texture. Salt draws out the moisture content of cheese, which is why you are left with different ratings of firmness from how much salt is added to the cheese: soft, semi-soft, semi-firm and firm.
Enhancing flavour. Salt not only gives a salty taste to cheese, but it can help enhance other flavours present, or to counteract the bitterness.
Make your Brussels sprouts burst with flavour this winter by adding a generous helping of smoky bacon rashers to the dish. Not only will it give the sprouts a zing of smokiness, but it will make your guests go in for seconds!
Don’t forget to add a generous pinch of Maldon Salt to the Brussels Sprouts. Salt adds the flavour to the bacon rashers whilst preventing the fat from developing acidity. You can find where to buy our Maldon Salt range by clicking here!
