Spelt & Courgette Mini Pizzas
These yummy little pizzas are great to get your kids in the kitchen, they love knocking the air out of the dough and choosing their own toppings. Not only do these taste delicious, they also contain courgette in the base itself!
The spelt flour base gives a nice nutty flavour whilst also making them light and airy. They also work well with other veggies added such as grated carrot or beetroot. Plus, you can freeze the dough (before you pop the courgette in) so it’s worth making a larger batch for easy week-day suppers.
Spelt is an ancient grain from the wheat family and tends to be more digestible than modern day wheat. If you need to make these gluten-free then use a gluten-free flour blend.
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Spelt & Courgette Mini Pizzas
Ingredients
Base:
Sauce:
- 1 Onion (White, finely chopped)
- 2 cloves Garlic (Finely chopped)
- 400 g Chopped tomatoes (Tinned)
- 2 tbsp Tomato puree
- 1 handful Oregano (Fresh, or 1tsp dried)
- 1 sprig Basil (To garnish)
Instructions
To make the base:
- Place the yeast, flour, honey and salt into your mixing bowl. Add the oil to the water and slowly combine all until you have a dough that holds together.
- Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes until your dough has become smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a bowl, place though dough in and turn it over so it is all lightly covered in oil. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for about an hour and a half until tripled in size. You can freeze some of it for another time at this stage.
- Once the dough is risen, add the courgette to the dough, re-cover and leave for a further half an hour until visibly risen.
- Next push the dough down, knock the air out of it and return to the bowl for a further half an hour. Preheat your oven to 220C/200C fan.
- Whilst you’re waiting, prepare your toppings. We used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella, streaky bacon, fresh tomato, pepper and sun-dried tomatoes. If using peppers and bacon, fry them gently beforehand.
- Tip out onto a lightly floured surface, break into four and roll out thinly. Cover with your sauce (see instructions below), chosen toppings and cheese. Bake on a preheated baking sheet until crisp and lightly browned, between 10-20 minutes depending on thickness and size.
To make the sauce:
- Whilst the dough is rising, make your pizza sauce base. In a large frying pan gently fry the onions, until translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients and slowly cook down. Leave to gently bubble away for about an hour. It needs to be really reduced so it’s nice and thick. Blitz with a hand blender, then it is ready to go on the base of your pizzas.
Notes
- Other veggies such as grated carrot or beetroot also work well as an alternative to courgette.
- You can freeze the dough for up to 3 months. Freeze it in a slab instead of a ball, it will take up less space in your freezer and defrost quicker.
- This is a slightly heavier dough so make sure you roll out your bases nice and thin. They don’t have to be mini. You can make them any size you want.
- Consider pre-heating the tray you are cooking them on, or use a pre-heated pizza stone.
- For a gluten-free base replace the spelt flour with gluten-free bread flour and add in 2tsp gluten-free baking powder, ¼ tsp turmeric and 1 heaped tsp xanthan gum. Combine all the ingredients and mix quickly with your hands, adding a little extra water if too dry. Then continue with step 5 as above.
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