Recipe > Mains
Mushroom and Goat's Cheese Pizza
At the end of each working day, once the restaurant doors had closed I would make a communal staff meal to allow everyone a chance to relax, swap stories of the day's events and generally unwind. Of course everyone loves pizza and it was something I would serve regularly, however I do remember one occasion when for the sheer hell of it I couldn't resist putting some blue colouring liquid into the dough. (a supplier had sent a whole litre of the colouring by mistake and after seeing it lie in the store cupboard for 6 months I was itching to put it to use...) Anyway to cut a long story short the pizza came out perfect, tasted delicious as usual but was....vividly blue!

No one could stomach it, even though the taste was the same everyone couldn't help but think that they were shoving mouthfuls of play-dough down their throats, one member of staff even had vivid flash backs to watching the smurfs as a kid. Not one of my better days but who could resist all that crazy food colouring?

So for a better, vegetarian version please try this recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients
For the dough:
10g / .3oz fresh yeast (or 5g / .6oz dried yeast)
1/4 Tsp sugar
225g / 8oz plain flour
125ml / 4.5fl oz warm water
1/2 Tsp salt

For the pizza:
200ml / 7fl oz salsa pizzaiola (click here)
200g / 7oz goat's cheese
140g / 5oz selection of mushrooms
1/2 red onion
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
1 Tblsp olive oil

Mise-en-Place:
Preheat the oven to gas mark 7 / 220°C / 425°F
Lightly grease a baking sheet with oil
Cut the goat's cheese into wedges
Slice the mushrooms and onion

Method:
Make the dough:
Activate the yeast: Place the yeast in a bowl with the sugar, 3 tablespoons of the warm water then stir together and set aside for 5 minutes
The yeast is activated if the yeast swells and little bubbles of gas form upon its surface

Either in a mixing bowl with a dough hook or by hand:
Mix the flour and salt together
Stir in the yeast
Add the water and mix together
Knead the dough for 5 minutes (5-10 if kneading by hand)
To test if the dough is ready: Roll the dough into a tight ball. Make the ball tighter by folding it in half so that there is a strong spherical curve on one side of the dough ball. Push a finger about 1cm into the dough, as you pull your finger free the dough should ease back into its original spherical shape. If the fingerprint remains as a deep impression the dough is not ready and needs more kneading
If the dough is ready continue with the next step

Rolling the dough:
Place the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll the dough into the required shape (i.e. a circle or rectangle)
Once the dough has been rolled into shape lift and place it onto the prepared baking sheet (If you have a large pizza wrap it around the rolling pin to support it whilst moving)

Assembly:
Spread the salsa pizzaiola sauce over the dough
Arrange the mushrooms, onion, and goat's cheese in layers
Dribble the oil over the pizza
Bake in the oven on a middle shelf for 15-20 minutes
Serve

Where you went wrong:
The dough didn't rise: Yeast was too old / you added more than 1/4 teaspoon of sugar / the water was too hot / you didn't leave the dough in a warm place so that the yeast could activate
The pizza burnt: Temperature too high / baked on a top shelf not the middle / left in oven too long

Presentation:
To make small individual pizzas or canapes roll the dough out, then use a cutter or mould to cut out small circles of dough. Finish the pizzas as normal.

Chef Tip: For a thick pan pizza; roll the dough slightly thicker than normal and allow the dough to rest for 10-15 minutes before baking to give it time to rise.

Cowboy Trick: Need a tomato paste in a hurry?
Mix tomato puree with dried oregano, brown sugar, salt and pepper.

Science behind the dish: Why does the pizza dough rise?
Flour proteins are mainly comprised from gluten. As the dough is kneaded not only is the yeast evenly distributed but the gluten molecules form long chains which results in the dough becoming elasticated and 'springy'. When the dough is heated the yeast produces bubbles of carbon dioxide, these gas bubbles, trapped between the gluten molecules expand causing the dough to rise.