Cooking with kids: pizza!

Here is a delicious kid-friendly pizza recipe from Kiwi chef Simon Gault’s new cookbook, Summer with Simon Gault.

Most kids like pizza, and the addition of meatballs le giovani (translated as: theyoung ones) will make them regard you as a culinary genius. They go pretty well with I vecchi (the old ones),too. You might have seen experts spinning the dough in the air to stretch it out.

I don’t recommend this technique as you are more likely to wear the dough as a beret than evenly stretch it, but if you are feeling adventurous, good luck. You have been warned.

Makes 4

Ingredients

  • 1 quantity of Pizza Dough (see below)
  • 4 tbsp Fuller’s Positano Tomato Sauce (see below)
  • 1⁄2 quantity of Hazel’s Prosciutto Meatballs, mini size (see below)
  • 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 8 bocconcini, halved

Directions

1. Heat your pizza oven or conventional oven to 250°C. If using a conventional oven, place a pizza stone or baking tray inside to heat up.

2. Cut the pizza dough intofour pieces. On a floured board, roll or stretch each piece of dough into a 15cm diameter round.

3. Spread 1 tablespoon Tomato Sauce over each pizza base.

4. Divide the meatballs, tomatoes and bocconcini between the pizzas.

5. Transfer to a pizza peel if using a pizza oven or the heated pizza stone or tray if cooking in a conventional oven.

6. Stretch the pizza base and cook till the base is crispy and the bocconcini melted.

Pizza dough

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp dried yeast
  • pinch of sugar
  • 21⁄2 cups 00 flour
  • 1⁄2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Place the yeast, sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and1/3 cup warm water in a large bowl. Mix to combine, and set aside in a warm place until bubbling (about 20minutes).

2. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the remaining our,1⁄2 cup warm water and salt (you may need a little more water). Tip out onto a floured bench and knead for about 7 minutes until silky smooth. Divide and form into two balls.

3. Place the dough balls onto an oiled tray, leaving a good gap between them as they will potentially double in size, then turn them over so the oiled side is facing up. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until doubledin size (1–6 hours). If necessary, you can keep this in the fridge overnight.4. Prepared dough is best cooked in a hot pizza oven or on a pizza stone heated in a conventional oven for at least 20 minutes at 250°C.

Fuller’s Positano tomato sauce

serves 6

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup extra virginolive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
  • 1 onion, nely diced
  • handful of oregano, roughly chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 550g tomato passata
  • 2 x 400g tins Italian skinless tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp manuka honey
  • 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 tsp cracked pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • handful of fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Cook the garlic and onion until lightly golden brown. Then add the oregano and bay leaves, and cook for a further 2 minutes.

2. Pour in the passata, tinned tomatoes, honey, stock and cracked pepper, then simmer over a gentle heat for 45 minutes to an hour, until you have a sauce consistency. Stir through the salt.

3. Just prior to serving add the fresh basil leaves.

4. Freeze any leftover sauce in zip-lock bags.

Hazel’s proscuitto meatballs

serves 6

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 onions, finely diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely diced
  • 100g fresh breadcrumbs (eg ciabatta or sourdough; use almond our for a gluten-free option)
  • 1⁄2 cup milk
  • Handful of fresh oregano leaves, roughly chopped
  • Handful of fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp capers, finely diced
  • 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
  • 400g pork sausages, skins removed
  • 100g prosciutto or pancetta, as finely chopped as possible, including the fat
  • 90g parmesan, grated
  • 1 tsp cracked pepper
  • Extra virgin olive oil, for cooking

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the onion and garlic. Cook for 4-6 minutes until the onion is soft, taking care it doesn’t brown or burn. Remove and set aside to cool.

2. Soak breadcrumbs (or almond flour) in the milk, allowing the crumbs to soften and absorb the milk.

3. Place all the remaining ingredients along with the cooled onion and garlic in a large bowl. Use your hands to combine the mixture, making sure that you don’t overmix. Overmixing can make the meatballs tough!

4. Here is where the kids come in to form the meatball mixture into small meatballs. Keep a bowl of water at the ready, dipping hands in so the mixture doesn’t stick.

5. Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the meatballs in batches until brown, about 5 minutes.

EXTRACTED FROM SUMMER WITH SIMON GAULT, PUBLISHED BY PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE NZ, RRP$50.

Text © Simon Gault, 2019. Photography © Vanessa Lewis, 2019

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