Pizza with mozzarella, parma ham and rocket

Pizza with mozzarella, parma ham and rocket Serves: Makes 2 large pizzas My friend Kate passed on this super easy pizza recipe a while ago. It forms a great base for any pizza, but here I suggest keeping it simple with mozzarella, parma ham and rocket.

Ingredients For the pizza dough

• 225g strong white bread flour or ‘00’ flour

• 7g dried easy bake yeast

• 150ml luke warm water

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• A small pinch of salt

For the topping

• 200g tinned chopped tomatoes

• A pinch of dried oregano

• 1 tablespoon tomato puree

• 4 slices Parma ham

• 1 ball of good buffalo mozzarella

• A handful of rocket leaves

• Chilli oil for finishing

Method Making the pizza

1. For the pizza dough: Sift the flour into a bowl. Place the yeast in a cup and pour a little of the water over to get it activated. Pour the yeast mixture and almost all of the remaining water into the flour and quickly combine to with a wooden spoon. If there is still dry crumb in the bottom of the bowl add the remaining water before you bring the mixture together with your hands. You’re looking for a nice soft dough.

2. Knead the bread for about 8 minutes till smooth and elastic (you can use the dough hook on a food mixer if you have one).

3. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, covered with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place until it doubles in size.

4. Meanwhile, place the tomatoes in a pan with the tomato puree and oregano. Reduce over a mid-high heat until the mixture is drier with much of the liquid evaporated.

5. Preheat the oven to its highest setting – around 240 C.

6. Divide the dough into two balls and roll out on a floured surface into large rounds or rectangles. This dough is best used for very thin pizzas so roll as thin as you can without tearing.

7. Transfer to lightly oiled baking sheets (or your pizza stone!) and stretch out further as the dough will tend to spring back on itself.

8. Spoon a thin layer of the tomato mixture onto each pizza. Tear pieces of mozzarella and dot around the pizzas then drape torn bits of Parma ham on top.

9. Bake the pizza for 8-10 mins (depending on how thin they are) until the crust is golden brown and the dough in the centre is cooked.

10. To serve, place rocket leaves over the pizza and drizzle with as much chilli oil as you like!