Entertain at home: Host a pizza night

Parma ham pizza with lemony rocket and avo

You’ll need (for two pizzas): For the tomato base – 500g rosa tomatoes, cut in half; a drizzle of olive oil; salt and pepper; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; big pinch chilli flakes; 2 Tbsp sugar; 1 Tbsp rosemary needles; handful basil leaves; 1 tin tomatoes.

For the pizza toppings – 2 balls of pizza dough; 4–6 Tbsp homemade tomato sauce (as per recipe above) or store-bought; 150g taleggio cheese; 100g mushrooms; Marjoram or oregano; Rocket, to serve; zest of 2 lemons; a dash of olive oil; 1 packet Parma ham; 1 avocado, optional but delicious.

How to:

For the tomato base:

Heat oven to 180°C.

Place the tomatoes on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 45–50 minutes until the edges are slightly charred and the halves are de-hydrated. Remove and allow to cool slightly.

Place the onions in a saucepan and cook until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.

Add the chilli flakes, tomatoes, sugar and rosemary. Turn the heat to low and add about 100ml water and basil leaves. Simmer for 10–15 minutes for the rosemary to infuse. Stir in the tinned tomatoes for the last 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and cool for a few minutes, then blend your roasted tomatoes and the tomato sauce with a stick blender to form a smooth paste.

The sauce will keep in the fridge for a few days or freezer for two months. You can obviously also sub in a store-bought tomato sauce for days when pizza cravings are high and time, low.

For the Parma ham pizza:

Preheat the oven to 250°C.

Roll out your pizza dough into 2 pizza bases.

Bake for 5–10 minutes, ideally on a pizza stone. Remove from the oven and spread over the tomato sauce, taleggio cheese, mushrooms and marjoram or oregano.

Place back in the oven for 10–12 minutes until the pizza is cooked through. Toss the rocket with the lemon zest and a dash of olive oil.

Remove from the oven, top with the Parma ham, lemony rocket and avocados.

* Recipes & image by Yuppiechef.com. 

Rustic three cheese pizza with red onions, bacon and rocket

Serves 2

You’ll need: For the pizza base – 2 x 500ml cake or white bread flour; 45ml oil; 375ml lukewarm water; 10ml salt; 5ml sugar; 1 sachet instant yeast.

For the topping – 2 red onions, halved and sliced; 45ml oil; 60ml brown sugar; 300g Lancewood Gouda or Cheddar, grated; 500g Lancewood Mozzarella, sliced; 140 – 200g bacon, speck or ham; 300g Plain or Herb Feta; salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste; 2 handfuls of rocket; sliced avocado (optional).

How to:

Pizza base:

Combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Add the oil to the lukewarm water. Add to the flour and mix to a dough. Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic – about 5 minutes. Lightly oil the bowl with the remaining oil and return the dough to it.

Cover and leave in a warm place until double in size – about 1 ½ hour. Punch down and divide into 2 balls. Leave to rest for 5 minutes. Roll out on a floured surface into 2 large rectangles. Place on 2 baking sheets. Bake in a preheated oven at 250 ◦C for 3 minutes. Remove from oven. Brush the edges with oil.

Topping:

Heat the oil and fry the onions until just soft, add the sugar and stir to melt and caramelize. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the bases, top with slices of mozzarella, then onion and bacon or ham. Crumble the feta cheese over and season to taste. Return to the preheated oven and bake for 5 – 7 minutes or until golden and bubbling. 

To serve:

Scatter rocket over the top, cut and serve at once.

Cook’s Notes:

Instead of onion, ham and rocket, use tomatoes, basil and drizzle with balsamic reduction. You can also use onion, ham and rocket, curried chicken, avocado, dollops of Lancewood Cultured Cream, coriander and chilli.

* Recipes & image by Lancewood.

Spicy mince pizza

Serves 1

You’ll need: 1 medium-sized pizza base; 175g Lancewood Cheese Melt Pizza flavour.

For the spicy mince (enough for 2 pizzas) – 125ml Lancewood White Cheddar, grated; 1 – 2 jalapeno chillies, chopped; 1 small avocado, sliced; a few sprigs coriander; 30ml oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 500g beef mince; 10ml cumin; 10ml sugar; 10ml origanum; a pinch of chilli powder or more to taste; 90ml tomato sauce; 125ml water; salt to taste.

How to:

Preheat the oven to 225°C. Place the pizza base on a baking sheet lined with baking paper or on a pizza plate. Spread the Cheese Melt evenly over the pizza base. Top with half of the spicy mince and sprinkle the cheese over. Bake for 5 – 10 minutes until the edges are browned and the cheese melted. Remove from the oven and top with chillies, avocado and coriander. Cut into slices or squares and serve immediately.

Spicy mince:

Heat the oil and fry the onion until soft and golden. Add the garlic and fry for 1 minute. Add the mince and brown. Add the cumin, sugar, origanum, chilli powder, tomato sauce and water. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated. Season to taste.

* Recipes & image by Lancewood.

Boerewors pita pizzas

Makes 4

You’ll need: 4 pita breads; 1 x 400g can Rhodes Quality Tomato Braai Relish; 200g cooked boerewors, sliced; 65ml fruit chutney; 250ml mozzarella cheese, grated.

How to:

Place the pita breads on a baking tray.

Spread the pitas with a generous helping of Rhodes Quality Tomato Braai Relish.

Toss the sliced boerewors in the chutney and arrange on top of the relish.

Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese.

Bake in an oven preheated to 190°C for 4-5 minutes, or until the pitas are crisp and the cheese is melted.

Slice and serve.

* Recipes & image by Rhodes Quality.