MARGARITA PIZZA
Anyone else love a good, simple margarita pizza? Tomato, cheese, basil – you can’t go wrong!
The base for these pizzas is a simple homemade flatbread. It gives a nice thin base and is pre-cooked in the frying pan so the pizzas only need a short time in the oven.
If you’re following a gluten-free diet, you can replace the plain flour with gluten-free self-raising flour. The resulting flatbreads crack more easily than gluten-containing ones but they’re perfect for a flat pizza base. The pizzas in my photograph are the gluten-free version (my sister has coeliac disease and I made them when family were coming over to help eat up some leftovers for dinner). She said they were the best gluten-free pizza bases she’s had, and everyone else liked them too.
MARGARITA PIZZAS
Anyone else love a good, simple pizza? Tomato, cheese, basil - you can’t go wrong! For those following a gluten-free diet, check out the notes below. This base is goooood!
Ingredients
PIZZA BASE
- 50 g butter (1.8oz)
- 3/4 cup milk (190ml)
- 2 cups plain flour (300g) + extra for dusting
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp olive oil
SALAD
- 2 courgettes
- 1/4 cup white vinegar (60ml)
- 1/4 cup water (60ml)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp pinenuts
- 60 g baby rocket (2.1oz)
TOPPINGS
- 2 tomatoes
- 125 g fresh mozzarella or bocconcini (4.4oz)
- 4 Tbsp pizza paste
- 4 Tbsp basil pesto
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (120g)
- Handful fresh basil
Instructions
PREPARE PIZZA BASES
Gently heat butter and milk in a medium saucepan. When butter has melted, remove from heat and stir in flour and salt. Tip dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for a few minutes until smooth. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and set aside for 15 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 220°C (430°F) bake. Line two large oven trays with baking paper.
PICKLE COURGETTE
Use a potato peeler to thinly slice courgette into ribbons. Whisk together vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the courgette, stir and set aside while you prepare the rest of the meal.
PREPARE PIZZAS
Thinly slice tomato and mozzarella.
Unwrap dough and cut into 4 portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion out into a large circle about 2-3mm thick.
Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Toast pinenuts for the salad. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add olive oil to the pan and cook one of the bases for 1-2 minutes on each side. When it puffs up, press down with a spatula. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining bases.
Spread each base with 1 tablespoon tomato paste followed by 1 tablespoon pesto. Divide grated cheese evenly between each pizza, then add the tomato and, lastly, the mozzarella.
Bake pizzas for 5 minutes, then switch trays around and bake for a further 5 minutes.
SERVE
Drain courgette and combine with rocket and pinenuts. Slice pizza, top with basil and serve with salad.
Recipe Notes
WINE MATCH: Go for a Pinot Gris.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: Replace the plain flour with gluten-free self-raising flour. The dough will be softer and a little more crumbly but still forms a great pizza base - the pizzas in my photo above are the gluten-free version!
INGREDIENT SWAP: You can switch out two thirds of a cup of plain flour for wholemeal flour, if you like, to make the bases slightly more nutritious.
STORING AND REHEATING: Package pizza separately to salad. Reheat pizza in the oven or microwave.
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4 Comments
These pizzas were awesome! I made the bases a day in advance, so the pizzas were super quick and easy to put together for dinner the following night. Great tip about switching the trays around half way through cooking too. Although I’m not gluten-free, I’m really keen to try out the gluten-free option that everyone is raving about next time!
Good idea to make the pizza bases in advance 🙂 they also work well with a little of the plain flour replaced with wholemeal flour, to up the health factor a bit!
My fiancé has coeliac’s, which means I have had to eat awful GF pizza bases until now! This is the best GF pizza base recipe we have tried (by a long shot) & the combination of toppings were delicious.
Excellent, thanks Doug! So pleased you do not have to tolerate horrible GF pizza bases any longer! 🙂